NANCY    STAIR 


AU^iO^w 


NANCY  STAIR 


A    NO  TEL 


BY 

ELINOR  MACARTNEY  LANE 

AUTHOR    OF    MILLS    OF    GOD 


NEW   YORK 

D.    APPLETON    AND   COMPANY 
MCMV 


COPTBIGHT,  1904,  BY 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Published  May, 


To  frank  25rett 

Who  accepted,  with  a  kind  letter, 

The  first  story  I  ever  wrote, 

This  tale  of  J^atttp  <£tait  is  dedicated^ 

As  a  tribute  of  affection, 

From  one  old  friend  to  another. 


9616^8 


'*  For  woman  is  not  undeveloped  man, 
But  diverse  ;  could  we  make  her  as  the  man, 
Sweet  Love  were  slain  :  his  dearest  bond  is  this, 
Not  like  to  like,  but  like  in  difference. " 

TENNYSON. 

"Auld  Nature  swears,  the  lovely  dears, 

Her  noblest  work  she  classes,  O, 
Her  'prentice  hand  she  tried  on  man, 
And  then  she  made  the  lasses,  O.*' 

ROBERT  BURNS. 

"Ye  can't  educate  women  as  you  can  men.  They're 
elemental  creatures  ;  and  ye  can  no  more  change  their 
natures  than  ye  can  stop  fire  from  burning. " 

HUGH  PITCAIRN. 


PEEFACE   BY  LORD   STAIR 


Two  excellent  accounts  of  the  beautiful 
Nancy  Stair  have  already  been  published;  the 
first  by  Mrs.  George  Opie,  in  the  Scots  News, 
giving  a  detailed  account  of  the  work  on  the 
burnside,  and  a  more  recent  one  by  Professor 
Erskine,  of  our  own  University,  which  is  little 
more  than  a  critical  dissertation  upon  Nancy  as 
a  poet;  the  heart  of  the  matter  with  him  being 
to  commend  her  English  verses,  as  well  as  those 
in  "  gude  braid  Scot." 

With  these  accounts  to  be  secured  so  easily 
it  may  seem  presumptuous,  as  well  as  superflu 
ous,  for  me  to  undertake  a  third.  I  state  at 
the  outset,  therefore,  that  it  is  beyond  my  am 
bition  and  my  abilities  to  add  a  word  to  stories 
told,  so  well.  Nor  do  I  purpose  to  mention 
either  the  work  on  the  burn  or  Nancy's  song- 
making,  save  when  necessary  for  clearness. 

For  me,  however,  the  life  of  Nancy  Stair  has 
a  far  deeper  significance  than  that  set  forth  by 
either  of  these  gifted  authors.  My  knowledge 
[ix] 


PREFACE   BY   LORD    STAIR 

of  her  was  naturally  of  the  most  intimate;  I 
watched  her  grow  from  a  wonderful  child  into 
a  wonderful  woman ;  and  saw  her,  with  a  man's 
education,  none  but  men  for  friends,  and  no 
counselings  save  from  her  own  heart,  solve  most 
wisely  for  the  race  the  problem  put  to  every 
woman  of  gift ;  and  with  sweetest  reasoning  and 
no  bitter  renouncings  enter  the  kingdom  of 
great  womanhood. 

To  tell  this  intimate  side  of  her  life  with 
what  skill  I  have  is  the  chief  purpose  of  my 
writing,  but  there  are  two  other  motives  almost 
as  strong.  The  first  of  these  is  to  clear  away 
the  mystery  of  the  murder  which  for  so  long 
clouded  our  lives  at  Stair.  To  do  this  there  is 
no  man  in  Scotland  to-day  so  able  as  myself. 
It  was  I  who  bid  the  Duke  to  Stair ;  the  quarrel 
which  brought  on  the  meeting  fell  directly  be 
neath  my  eyes ;  I  heard  the  shots  and  found  the 
dead  upon  that  fearful  night,  and  afterward 
went  blindfolded  through  the  bitter  business  of 
the  trial.  I  was  the  first,  as  well,  to  scent  the 
truth  at  the  bottom  of  the  defense,  and  have  in 
my  possession,  as  I  write,  the  confession  which 
removed  all  doubt  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  deed  was  committed. 


PREFACE   BY   LORD    STAIR 

The  second  reason  is  to  set  clear  Nancy's 
relation  to  Robert  Burns^  of  which  too  much 
has  been  made,  and  whose  influence  upon  her 
and  her  writings  has  been  grossly  exaggerated. 
Her  observation  of  natural  genius  in  him 
changed  her  greatly,  and  I  have  tried  to  set 
this  forth  with  clearness;  but  it  affected  her  in 
a  very  different  manner  from  that  which  her 
two  famous  biographers  have  told,  and  I  have 
it  from  her  own  lips  that  it  was  because  of  the 
Burns  episode  that  she  stopped  writing  alto 
gether. 

If  it  be  complained  against  me  that  the  tale 
has  my  own  life's  story  in  it,  I  would  answer 
to  the  charge  that  only  a  great  and  passionate 
first  love  could  have  produced  a  child  like 
Nancy,  and  I  believe  that  the  world  is  ever  a 
bit  interested  in  the  line  of  people  whose  loves 
and  hates  have  produced  a  recognized  genius. 
Then,  too,  the  circumstances  attending  her  birth 
had  more  influence  on  her  after  life  than  may 
at  first  be  seen,  giving  me  as  they  did  such  a 
tenderness  for  her  that  I  have  never  been  able 
to  cross  her  in  any  matter  whatever. 

Much  of  the  story,  of  which  I  was  not  di 
rectly  a  witness,  comes  from  Nancy  herself.  I 
[xi] 


PREFACE   BY   LORD    STAIR 

have  sent  the  tale  to  Alexander  Carmichael  as 
well,  and  in  all  important  matters  his  recollec 
tions  accord  with  mine. 

There  came  to  me  but  yesterday,  in  this 
queer  old  city,  a  letter  from  him  urging  me  back 
to  Stair,  closed  with  a  stanza  that  was  not  born 
to  die: 

"Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 
And  never  brought  to  min', 
Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 
And  the  days  of  Auld  Lang  Syne  ?  " 

They  should  not,  Sandy,  and  none  know  it 
better  than  we;  and  I  long  for  a  grip  of  your 
hand,  lad,  and  to  feel  the  winds  blow  through 
the  rowans  at  Stair  and  the  copper  birches  of 
Arran ;  to  hear  the  blackbirds  whistle  across  the 
gowan-tops;  to  see  the  busy  burn-folk  through 
the  break  in  the  old  south  wall;  and  with  the 
ending  of  these  writings  my  steps  are  turned 
toward  home. 

ROME,  1801. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.— AT  STAIR  HOUSE,  NEAR  EDINBURGH,  IN  1768  . 

II.— I  GO   ON   A  CRUISE  AND   FIND   A  HIDDEN  TREASURE  .  15 
HI.— THE  TREASURE  BECOMES   MINE,   BUT   IS    CLAIMED  BY 

ITS   OWNER .  29 

IV. — ENTER  NANCY  STAIR 41 

V.— I  MAKE  THE  ACQUAINTANCE  OF  A  STRANGE  CHILD  .  53 

VI. — NANCY  BEGINS  HER  STUDY  OF  THE  LAW          •       .  61 

VII. I  TAKE  NANCY'S  EDUCATION  IN  HAND      ...  74 

VIII.-  THE  DAFT  DAYS            * 86 

IX.— DANVERS     BECOMES     BETTER     ACQUAINTED     WITH 

NANCY 105 

X.— NANCY  VISITS  HIS  GRACE  OF  BORTHWICKE      .       .  124 

XI.— DANVERS  CARMICHAEL  MAKES  A  PROPOSAL      .        .  142 

XII.— I   MEET   A   GREAT   MAN '  : 

XIII.— THE  DUKE  VISITS  STAIR  FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME        .  166 

XIV.— NANCY  MEETS  HER  RIVAL I74 

XV.— CONCERNING     DANVERS     CARMICHAEL     AND     HIS 

GRACE  OF  BORTHWICKE I85 

XVI. — NANCY  STAIR  ARRANGES  MATTERS    ....  204 

XVII. — "  THE  SWAP  o'  RHYMING  WARE  "     .  213 

XVIII. — I  GO  DOWN  TO  MAUCHLINE 23~/ 

XIX.— THE  QUARREL  BETWEEN  DANVERS  AND  NANCY    .  241 

XX.— DANVERS  GIVES  us  A  GREAT  SURPRISE    .        .        .259 
XXI.— THE  ALLISONS'  BALL  AND  THAT  WHICH  FOLLOWED  IT 

XXII.— A    STRANGE    MEETING j 

XXIII.— A    FALSE    RUMOR   CAUSES   TROUBLE     .  .  •  -298 

XXIV.— THE  MURDER 3^' 

XXV.— THE  TRIAL ™~ 

XXVI.— THE  DEFENSE j~j 

XXVII.— THE  MISTS  ALL  CLEARED  AWAY       .       .       •       •  361 


NANCY    STAIE 
CHAPTER  I 

AT   STAIR   HOUSE,    NEAR   EDINBURGH,   IN    1768 

BY  reason  of  a  breakneck  ride  through  the 
Pentlands,  I  entered  the  dining-room  at  Stair 
very  late  one  morning  to  find  Huey  MacGrath 
in  a  state  of  deepest  gloom  waiting  to  serve  my 
breakfast. 

"  Good  morning,  Huey,"  I  said,  opening  The 
Glasgow  Sentinel  which  had  come  by  the  post. 

"  Good  morning,  my  lord,"  he  returned,  in 
a  grudging  tone. 

"  It's  a  fine  morning,"  said  I. 

"Ye  think  sae!"  with  a  show  of  great 
surprise. 

"  Why,  man ! "  I  cried,  "  can  not  ye  see  for 
yourself? " 

"We've  the  spring  rains  to  come  yet." 

"  They're  by  these  ten  days,"  I  answered. 

"  Nae,  nae,"  he  said  quietly.  "  That  was  jest 
the  equinoctial,  I'm  thinking." 

[1] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  I 

"  The  equinoctial  comes  in  March,  man !  "  I 
observed  with  some  surprise. 

"  Tarnmas  was  telling  me  yesterday  that  the 
roads  to  London  were  fair  unpassable." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  I.  "  The  summer's  here, 
Huey." 

"  There's  a  chill  at  the  gloamin',  yet.  Nae, 
nae,"  he  went  on  earnestly,  "  simmer's  far 
awa', — I've  seen  snaw's  late's  this !  " 

"  Ye've  had  wonderful  eyesight,"  I  laughed, 
seeing  the  point  toward  which  this  talk  was 
aimed.  "And  did  ye  hear  nothing  of  tidal 
waves,  Huey?  "  I  asked;  "  with  impassable  roads 
to  London,  and  snow  in  June,  you've  surely 
heard  of  some  disasters  by  sea." 

"Ah!"  he  cried,  "ye  can  tell  of  what  I'm 
thinking,  for  I've  seen  the  signs  of  it  in  ye  for 
a  fortnight  back.  You're  like  your  father  be 
fore  you,  and  your  grandfather,  as  weel,  for  the 
curse  of  wandering  seems  to  follow  the  name 
of  Stair.  With  the  first  warm  day  ye  have  your 
windows  wide  open;  and  next  your  beds  are 
into  a  draught  fit  to  blaw  ye  from  between  the 
sheets;  and  then  ye're  up  in  the  morning,  aff 
on  a  hoorse  scouring  the  hills  as  tho'  ye  were 
gyte;  and  at  the  end  your  valise's  packed,  the 


CHAP.  I  NANCY    STAIR 

coach  stopped,  and  ye  aif  amang  the  heathen, 
Gude  alane  kens  wheer ! 

"Ah,  laddie!"  he  continued,  his  voice 
changed  to  an  affectionate  wail,  "  dinna  be  gane 
awa'!  Ye've  niver  seen  Stair  in  the  simmer 
time ;  but  when  the  elderberries  and  lilacs  flower 
on  the  burn;  and  the  gilly  flowers  and  holly 
hocks  are  bloomin'  by  the  north  tower;  when 
the  wind  blows  soft  through  the  rowans,  and 
the  pineys'  pink  and  white  faces,  as  big  as  cab 
bages,  nod  against  the  old  south  wall,  there's 
no  bonnier  place  in  Scotland  than  your  own 
place  of  Stair." 

He  was  so  moved  at  the  thought  of  my  leav 
ing  him,  that  I  answered  in  some  haste, 

"  In  truth,  Huey,  I've  no  thought  of  going 
away." 

"  Ah,"  he  answered,  "  ye  don't  know  it,  but 
ye  have.  It's  been  in  ye  for  a  week  back," — and 
casting  his  eye  out  of  the  window,  "  there's 
Mr.  Carmichael  now,  riding  in  by  the  Holm 
gate.  I'll  jest  open  the  door  till  him." 

This  was  an  entirely  unnecessary  attention 

on  Huey's  part,  as  Sandy  Carmichael,  whose 

estate  of  Arran  Towers  joins  my  own  on  the 

west,  generally  opened  the  door  of  Stair  for 

2  [3] 


NANCY    STAIE  CHAP.  I 

himself,  or  the  windows  either,  for  the  matter 
of  that,  if  the  latter  were  more  convenient  en 
trance  from  the  place  he  happened  to  be. 

My  recollections  of  Sandy  begin  with  my 
recollections  of  myself.  As  lads  together,  in 
deed  before  we  were  long  out  of  skirts,  we 
guddled  for  fish  in  the  burn-water;  went  birds' 
nesting,  raced  our  ponies,  fought  each  other  be 
hind  the  stables  and  made  a  common  stock  of 
our  money  for  the  purchase  of  dimpies,  peoys 
and  jelly-tarts.  We  attended  the  High  School 
together  and  upon  leaving  it  chose  the  same  col 
lege,  where  Sandy  ran  a  merry  pace,  throwing 
his  money  out  of  the  windows,  as  it  were,  and 
gaining  for  himself  the  reputation  of  wearing 
more  waistcoats,  drinking  more  whisky,  making 
love  to  more  women,  and  writing  better  verses, 
than  any  other  man  in  the  University. 

He  was  a  big,  athletic,  clean-limbed  fellow, 
with  brown  hair,  a  bright  face,  warm  eyes,  and 
friendly  genial  ways  which  came  from  the  kind 
est  heart  in  the  world.  Five  years  before  the 
time  of  which  I  write,  which  would  be  in  1763, 
he  had  married  the  Honorable  Miss  Llewellyn 
from  the  north,  a  pitiable  pale-colored  lady, 
who,  half  crazed  by  jealousy  and  ill  health,  was 


CHAP.  I  NANCY   STAIR 

sending  him  back  to  unmarried  ways  again. 
Being  only  sister  to  Lord  Glenmore,  who  had 
no  heirs  and  was  subject  to  seizures  of  a  very 
malignant  type,  it  was  yearly  expected  that  the 
title  would  come  to  Sandy's  bit  of  a  boy,  a  hand 
some-faced  little  fellow  of  four,  who  paid  me 
long  visits  at  self-selected  times,  demanding  my 
watch,  a  pipe  to  smoke,  and  horses  to  ride. 

Before  Huey  had  time  to  reach  the  door, 
Sandy,  in  his  riding  clothes,  with  his  cap  on 
the  back  of  his  head,  stood  looking  in  at  me. 
There  was  a  scowl  between  his  brows,  and  by 
this  as  well  as  other  certain  signs,  I  knew  that 
all  was  not  well  with  him. 

"  Will  ye  go  on  a  cruise  with  me? "  says  he 
from  the  doorway  with  no  introduction  what 
ever. 

"  Would  it  be  an  unseemly  prying  into  your 
affairs  to  ask  where  to?"  I  inquired  with  a 
smile. 

"  North  or  south,"  said  he,  still  keeping  his 
place  by  the  door.  "It's  immaterial  to  me,  so 
I  escape  accompanying  my  womenfolk  to  Lon 
don." 

"  And  if  I  go  with  ye,"  says  I,  "  your  wife 
will  like  me  less  than  she  does  now." 
[5] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  I 

"  That  would  be  impossible,  so  ye  needn't 
worry  over  it,"  he  returned  dryly.  "  The  only 
good  word  ye  ever  had  from  her  was  that  if 
ye'd  been  a  less  handsome  man  ye  might  have 
been  a  better  one." 

"  And  even  that  could  scarce  be  termed  ful 
some  flattery,"  I  observed. 

"  Will  ye  go  1 "  he  repeated,  his  mind  set  on 
the  one  point. 

A  sudden  thought,  bred  of  some  news  in  the 
paper  which  I  had  just  received,  came  to  me 
upon  the  instant. 

"  Let  us  take  the  boat  from  Leith,  and  go 
north  by  the  Orkney  and  Hebrides  Islands, 
through  the  Minch  to  the  west  coast.  There  are 
all  kinds  of  stories  afloat  concerning  the  gipsies 
and  free  traders  who  live  in  those  deep  coves; 
we  migjit  fall  in  with  a  pirate  ship— 

"  Or  find  a  hidden  treasure !  "  he  said  scof- 
fingly,  as  he  seated  himself  on  the  other  side  of 
the  table  and  took  some  coffee,  the  frown  gone, 
and  the  Sandy  I  knew  with  the  bright  face  and 
laughing  eye  back  again. 

"  Aye,"  he  went  on  in  his  humorous  way,  "  I 
am  convinced  'twill  be  hidden  treasure  we'll  find, 
Jock.  We'll  go  ashore  at  midnight,  and  under 

[6] 


CHAP.  I  NANCY   STAIR 

a  stunted  pine  will  be  a  sailor's  chest.  Hidden 
treasures  are  always  found  in  sailors'  chests, 
ye  know.  And  taking  a  three-foot  bar  of  iron, 
which  every  gentleman  in  tales  carries  con 
cealed  upon  his  person,  we,  you  and  I, — none 
of  the  others,  of  course, — will  pry  this  chest 
open — to  find  ducats  and  doubloons,  and  pias 
tres,  and  sous-marquees — and  a  map  of  the 
Spanish  Main  and  the  Dry  Tortugas — with 
crosses  in  blood.  I'll  tell  you,  ye  can  have  my 
share  of  it  now,"  he  cried,  laughing  at  me. 

"  Ye're  over  generous,"  says  I,  for  jesting  of 
this  kind  was  a  thing  to  which  I  was  accustomed 
in  him. 

He  dropped  the  raillery  on  the  moment,  how 
ever,  to  take  a  note-book  from  his  pocket. 

"Whom  shall  we  ask?"  he  inquired  in  his 
natural  voice. 

Now  I  had  one  other  friend,  almost  as  dear 
to  me  as  Sandy,  named  Hugh  Pitcairn.  But 
while  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  affection 
each  had  for  me,  there  could  be  equally  no 
doubt  of  the  dislike  they  bore  each  other,  this 
feeling  having  grown  from  the  first  day  they 
met  in  the  hockey  grounds  of  the  High  School, 
where  almost  at  sight  of  each  other  they  fell  to 
[7] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  I 

fighting,  until  finally  pulled  apart  by  some  of 
the  older  lads. 

"  In  this  connection,"  said  I,  getting  back  at 
him  a  bit,  for  his  jeering  at  my  plans,  "  what 
do  you  think  of  Hugh  Pitcairn?  " 

"  In  this  connection,"  he  returned  dryly,  "  I 
do  not  think  of  Hugh  Pitcairn  at  all." 

"It's  strange,"  I  went  on,  in  the  same  re 
mote  tone,  as  though  it  were  a  subject  men 
tioned  for  the  first  time,  "  that  ye  should  dis 
like  him  so." 

"  It  can  not  match  the  strangeness  of  any 
one's  enduring  his  society,"  he  replied  with  heat. 

"  Well,  well,"  said  I,  putting  Pitcairn  out 
of  the  talk.  "  What  do  you  say  to  Geordie  Mac- 
Allister? " 

"  The  very  man,"  he  cried,  writing  the  name 
in  the  book. 

"  And  Graham  Annesley,"  I  went  on. 

"  Good  again." 

"  And  Donald  McDonald." 

"  He  won't  do  at  all ! "  Sandy  broke  out  in 
a  determined  way.  "  He's  gone  the  way  of  all 
trouble,  which  is  the  way  of  women.  He's 
crazed  about  the  Lady  Mary  Llewellyn  and 
we'll  have  no  one  along  who  is  sighing  for  a 


CHAP.  I  NANCY    STAIR 

woman,  be  she  his  own  or  another  man's  wife. 
That's  what  I  like  in  you,  Jock  Stair,"  he  said, 
gazing  at  me  with  approval.  "  YeVe  your 
faults " 

"  No  ?  "  I  said,  with  pretended  amazement. 

"  Ye'd  gamble  on  the  flight  of  angels ' 

"  Ye're  speaking  of  some  one  else,  maybe," 
I  suggested. 

"And  ye  drink  more  than  ye  should, — but 
you're  my  own  man  where  the  women  are  con 
cerned;  for  never  since  I  knew  ye, — and  that's 
ever  since  ye  were  born, — have  I  seen  ye  look 
with  wanting  at  maid,  wife,  or  widow,  and  ye're 
wise  in  that,"  he  added  in  a  tone  whose  bitter 
ness  came  from  the  unhappiness  of  his  own 
wedded  life. 

To  put  the  talk  into  a  brighter  channel,  I 
hastened  to  suggest  a  fourth  and  fifth  compan 
ion  for  the  cruise,  upon  which  we  fell  to  pass 
ing  judgment  on  the  companionable  men  of  our 
acquaintance,  weighing  their  congeniality  to  us 
and  to  each  other  until  one  o'clock  was  past  be 
fore  we  set  about  the  business  of  delivering  our 
invitations. 

Offering  to  accompany  Sandy  on  these  er 
rands,  I  thought  I  heard  a  groan,  and  on  leav- 

[9] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  I 

ing  the  dining-room  I  made  sure  of  another,  and 
on  the  instant  knew  that  they  came  from  Huey 
MacGrath. 

This  expedition  falling  so  quickly  on  the 
heels  of  his  warning  was  an  odd  occurrence 
and  for  some  reason,  perhaps  in  remembrance  of 
my  recent  assertion  that  I  had  no  heart  to  leave 
Stair,  there  fell  a  funny  performance  between 
us.  He  handed  me  my  cap  and  coat,  determined 
to  catch  my  eye,  and  I,  having  no  desire  to  see 
the  reproach  which  his  glance  contained,  was 
equally  set  to  avoid  it;  so  that  I  received  my 
cap  with  my  eyes  on  my  boots,  my  gloves  with 
an  averted  head,  and  my  riding-stick  looking 
out  of  the  doorway,  and  mounted  my  horse  with 
no  small  resentment  in  my  breast  at  this  sur 
veillance  from  a  servant  which  would  never  be 
borne  in  any  spot  outside  of  Scotland. 

"  I'm  thinking,"  said  I  to  Sandy  as  we  rode 
toward  the  town  gate,  "I'm  thinking  of  dis 
charging  Huey  when  I  come  back." 

"  That  will  make  the  fifty-third  time,"  said 
Sandy,  with  a  grin,  as  he  started  his  horse  off 
at  a  gallop. 

After  the  visits  with  Sandy,  I  kept  an  en 
gagement  with  Hugh  Pitcairn  at  the  Star  and 
[10] 


CHAP.  I  NANCY    STATE 

Garter,  just  around  the  corner  from  the  Tron 
Church,  at  four  o'clock  of  the  same  day.  It  was 
a  few  minutes  past  the  hour  as  I  neared  the 
place,  to  find  him  standing  by  the  doorway,  his 
back  to  the  passers  by,  a  French  cap  pulled  low 
over  his  eyes,  reading  from  a  ponderous  book 
which  he  was  balancing  with  some  difficulty 
against  the  door-rail. 

"  I  hope  I've  not  kept  ye  waiting ! "  said  I. 

"  Ye  have  kept  me  waiting,"  he  answered, 
but  with  no  resentment. 

"  I've  been  seeing  some  men  about  a  cruise, 
and  it  took  more  time  than  I  thought,"  I  ex 
plained  by  way  of  apology. 

"You're  off  on  a  cruise?"  he  asked,  as  we 
seated  ourselves  at  one  of  the  tables. 

I  nodded. 

"With  the  Carmichael  fellow,  I  suppose?" 
he  asked. 

"  I  am  going  with  Mr.  Carmichael,"  said  I. 

"  Well,  it's  just  no  thing  for  you  to  be  doing 
at  all,"  he  returned ;  "  you  should  stay  at  home 
and  look  after  your  affairs.  The  Carlyles  have 
broken  the  entail,  and  you  may  be  able  to  buy 
the  land  on  the  other  side  of  Burnwater  that 
you've  been  wanting  so  long." 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  I 

"  And  why  can't  you  attend  to  the  matter  ?  " 
I  cried.  "  Ye  handle  all  my  business,  and  do  it 
far  better  than  I  ever  could,  beside,  I  can  leave 
procuration- 
He  smiled  at  this  in  an  exasperatingly  su 
perior  way  as  though  I  had  used  the  word 
loosely,  and  went  on :  "  The  estate  itself  is  to  be 
looked  to,"  and  here  he  seemed  to  have  learned 
his  lesson  out  of  Huey  MacGrath's  book. 

"  As  for  the  house,"  I  broke  in,  "  it's  taken 
better  care  of  in  my  absence  than  when  I  am  in 
it ;  and  it's  money  in  my  pocket  to  leave  matters 
with  MacGrath  to  manage.  I  can  not  see,"  I 
said  with  some  heat,  perhaps  helped  by  the 
brandy  I  was  drinking,  "  why  in  heaven's  name 
I  shouldn't  go  on  a  cruise  if  I  desire  to !  If  I'd 
ties  of  any  kind,  a  wife  or  children— 

This  was  Pitcairn's  chance,  and  he  broke  my 
talk  to  take  it. 

"  Your  friend  Carmichael  has  both,  and  to 
them  his  first  duty  lies."  And  any  one  with  his 
wits  about  him  can  imagine  the  rest  of  the  talk, 
for  he  fell  into  an  attitude  of  strong  disapproval 
of  the  whole  plan;  stating  in  a  cold  legal  way 
that  Sandy  had  already  let  me  in  for  more  than 
one  trouble ;  had  caused  me  to  spend  large  sums 


CHAP.  I  NANCY    STAIR 

of  money,  foolishly  doing  the  like  himself;  that 
we  were  both  incapable  of  good  husbandry; 
given  to  drinking  more  than  was  wise,  and  over 
fond  of  the  society  of  persons  whom  we  were 
pleased  to  call  men  of  talent,  but  who  were,  by 
his  judgment,  doggerel-making  people,  of  loose 
morals,  with  no  respect  for  fact,  the  conduct 
which  became  the  general,  or  the  laws  of  Christ. 

He  went  over  for  the  twentieth  time  Sandy's 
arrest  for  pulling  off  most  of  the  door-knockers 
in  Edinburgh ;  this  event  having  occurred  when 
the  lad  was  but  sixteen  and  home  for  the  vaca 
tion;  as  well  as  the  scandal  of  his  having  bid 
the  Lord  President  in  a  high  and  excited  voice 
to  stick  his  head  out  of  the  window,  and  upon 
that  venerable  gentleman  complying,  shouting: 
"  Now  stick  it  in  again !  " 

At  the  end  of  this  discourse  he  invited  me  to 
remain  at  home  with  him  and  spend  the  even 
ings  over  a  new  treatise  on  the  Laws  of  Evi 
dence  which  he  had  just  brought  from  the 
University,  at  which  I  laughed  in  his  face  and 
told  him  that  I  had  neither  the  wit  nor  the  in 
clination  for  such  an  enterprise.  His  last  words 
were  to  the  effect  that  there  would  be  trouble 
bred  of  the  expedition,  and  he  closed  his  ha- 
[13] 


NANGY    STAIR  CHAP.  I 

rangue  in  the  following  manner,  as  we  stood  on 
the  South  Bridge,  where  our  ways  parted : 

"  The  Carmichael  man  has  no  judgment 
either  for  your  affairs  or  his  own.  His  heart 
may  be  all  right,  but  he's  got  no  common  sense, 
and  a  man  like  that  is  little  better  than  a  fool." 


[14] 


CHAPTER  II 

I  GO   ON   A   CRUISE   AND   FIND   A   HIDDEN   TREASURE 

IN  spite  of  Hugh  Pitcairn  we  were  off  the 
following  Monday,  going  out  of  Leith,  with  a 
clear  sky,  a  stiff  breeze,  and  six  men  of  our  own 
feather,  caring  little  where  our  destination  lay, 
if  the  cards  turned  well,  the  drink  held  plenty, 
and  the  ocean  rolled  beneath  us.  North  we 
went;  north  till  the  sea  itself  seemed  quieter 
and  lonelier;  north  where  the  twilight  held  far 
into  the  night,  to  be  back  by  two  of  the  morn 
ing;  north  by  John  o'  Groats  and  the  Pentland 
Skerries ;  till  one  June  day  found  us  turned  far 
down  the  wild  west  coast;  a  colorless  cruise  be 
hind  us,  with  never  a  storm,  a  pirate  ship,  nor 
a  sight  of  the  jolly  roger. 

At  the  end  of  the  day  of  which  I  speak  we 

were  lying  in  toward  shore,  and  I  was  aft  with 

a  pipe  for  company,  when  Sandy  came  from 

behind  the  pile  of  sail-cloth  against  which  I  sat 

[15] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  II 

to  say  that  the  brig  would  have  to  lay  by  for 
repairs  and  to  inquire  what  I  thought  of  going 
ashore  for  an  adventure. 

"  Where  are  we?  "  I  asked. 

"  Somewhere  above  Landgore.  "Tis  the  very 
place  for  treasure,"  he  added,  with  a  laugh. 

"  There's  nothing  would  suit  me  better  than 
a  night  ashore,"  said  I  with  truth,  for  I  had  had 
enough  of  the  drink,  the  slack  language,  and 
the  rough  sea  life,  and  looked  forward  to  the 
land  with  a  pleasant  hurry  of  thoughts. 

The  moon  shone  bright  in  a  sky  of  plain 
dark  blue,  making  a  path  of  swaying  gold  to 
ward  the  beach,  where  we  could  see  the  water 
curl  upon  the  sands  like  suds.  A  little  back 
was  a  steep  rise  of  granite  rocks,  with  gorse  and 
heather  growing  on  the  sides,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  some  gipsies,  or  free-traders,  had  built 
a  great  fire,  and  we  heard  them  singing  a 
drunken  catch  in  chorus,  and  saw  them  whirling 
round  and  round  the  fire  in  a  circle,  as  we 
stepped  ashore  from  the  boat. 

An  ugly  silence  fell  as  we  approached  them, 

and  their  women  drew  off,   thinking  that  we 

were  government  men,  no  doubt;  but  finding 

that  we  had  no  weightier  business  than  to  get 

[16] 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

some  information  as  to  our  whereabouts,  one  of 
them  gave  us  word  that  the  path  up  the  cliff 
led  to  the  Cuckoo  Tavern,  kept  by  Mother  Dick- 
enson,  where  we  could  obtain  what  refreshment 
we  needed  as  well  as  lodgment  for  the  night. 
We  had  gone  some  fifty  feet  when  one  of  the 
men  cried  after  us: 

"  An'  if  luck's  wi'  ye,  ye  may  have  a  glyff 
of  the  handsomest  lass  in  Scotland,"  at  which 
a  woman  cuffed  him  with  a  ringing  sound. 
There  followed  a  muttered  curse  and  a  roar  of 
laughter,  which  was  the  last  we  had  of  them. 

The  path  up  the  cliff  twisted  and  roved  in 
such  a  manner  to  avoid  the  many  boulders  that 
the  inn-light  proved  little  better  than  a  will-o'- 
the-wisp  to  guide  us,  and  it  was  in  a  breathless 
condition  that  we  reached  the  quaint  low  house, 
which  was  both  neat  and  comfortable,  seeming 
peculiarly  so  perhaps  after  our  long  voyage. 

A  queer  old  woman,  with  a  humorous  wry 
face,  yellow  and  deeply  lined,  sharp  black  eyes, 
and  a  ready  manner,  stood  behind  a  small  bar 
and  took  note  of  us  upon  our  entrance,  with  the 
air  of  one  well  able  to  judge  our  rank  and 
bearing. 

The  rest  went  off  with  her  to  inspect  the 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  II 

chambers  which  she  was  able  to  offer,  laughing 
and  chaffing  each  other  as  was  their  way,  leav 
ing  me  alone  in  the  main  room  with  my  back 
to  the  fire.  As  I  stood  thus  I  heard  a  sudden 
noise,  saw  the  curtain  of  a  door  at  the  side 
raised,  and  a  girl  in  a  black  robe  with  a  lighted 
candle  in  her  hand  looked  in  at  me. 

For  twenty-seven  years  I  had  waited  for  a 
sight  of  that  girl ! 

She  was  tall  and  slight,  and  carried  herself 
with  the  careless  grace  of  a  child ;  her  hair  was 
of  a  bronze  color,  parted  over  the  brows  and 
rippling  back  into  a  great  knot  low  on  the 
head;  her  skin  was  cream,  with  a  faint,  steady 
pink  burning  in  the  cheeks,  but  as  is  the  way  of 
men,  it  was  the  eyes  and  lips  I  noted  most ;  eyes 
of  gray,  filled  with  poetry  and  passion;  eyes 
which  looked  out  under  brows  black  and  heavy 
and  between  lashes,  curled  and  long,  giving  a  pe 
culiar  significance  to  the  glance.  The  lips  were 
scarlet,  the  upper  one  being  noticeably  short 
and  full;  lips  mutable  and  inviting,  lips  that 
were  made  for  mine — and  all  this  I  knew  in  the 
first  minute  that  our  eyes  met,  when,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  our  two  souls  rushed  together. 

At  gaze  with  each  other  we  stood,  no  word 
[181 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

spoken  between  us,  for  a  full  minute  of  time, 
when  the  noise  of  the  men  coming  back  dis 
turbed  her;  she  dropped  the  curtain  and  the 
light  of  her  candle  disappeared,  a  little  at  a  time, 
as  though  she  were  walking  from  me  down  some 
long  passage-way. 

I  do  not  know  how  love  comes  to  other  na 
tures  than  my  own,  and  men  of  notable  integ 
rity  have  told  me  how  leisurely  they  strolled 
into  the  condition  of  loving ;  but  for  me,  by  one 
questioning  glance  from  a  pair  of  eyes,  half 
gray,  half  blue,  I  was  sunk  fathoms  deep  in 
love,  in  love  that  knows  nothing,  cares  for  noth 
ing  but  the  one  beloved.  Soul  and  body  I  was 
signed,  sealed,  and  delivered,  "hers,"  in  that 
first  sight  I  had  of  her  in  the  doorway  with  the 
candle  in  her  hand  and  the  crimson  curtain 
framing  her  as  if  she  were  a  picture. 

We  had  supper,  of  which  I  ate  nothing; 
liquor,  of  which  I  drank  nothing;  and  merry 
talk,  in  which  I  took  no  part,  Sandy  jeering  at 
me  for  a  dull  ass,  I  remember,  and  pretending 
regret  at  not  having  asked  the  Eeverend  Slow- 
boy  in  my  place;  but  his  talk  was  of  no  moment 
to  me,  for  my  pulse  was  going  like  a  trip-ham 
mer,  my  brain  reeled  with  that  headiest  wine 
s  [19] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  II 

of  Nature's  brewing,  and  I  wanted  to  get  out 
under  the  stars  and  be  alone. 

Having  some  skill  at  singing,  Geordie  Mac- 
Allister  urged  that  I  recall  the  catch  we  had 
heard  on  the  beach;  but  finding  me  adamant 
against  such  an  exhibition,  Dame  Dickenson 
offered  a  suggestion  for  our  entertainment. 

"  There's  a  ward  of  mine  here,  a  young  lady, 
who  has  the  music,  and,  seeing  ye're  all  gentle 
men,  might  be  urged  to  a  song." 

Five  minutes  from  the  time  that  she  was 
seated  with  us,  I  had  heard  her  voice,  our  eyes 
had  held  each  other  again,  and  I  saw  a  carna 
tion  flush  bloom  suddenly  in  her  cheek  as  our 
hands  touched.  She  brought  with  her  a  curious 
old  instrument,  like  a  lute  with  many  strings, 
and  upon  this  she  struck  chords  to  the  song  she 
sang,  "  The  Wronged  Love  of  Great  Laird  Greg 
ory,"  the  melody  of  which  seems  ever  to  be  with 
me;  and  yesterday,  when  I  heard  Nancy  croon 
ing  it  to  herself,  I  cried  aloud  as  a  woman 
might,  for  the  unfulfilled  in  all  our  lives,  and 
my  dead  youth,  and  Marian  Ingarrach. 

And  at  her  singing,  the  four  of  us — or  five 
it  may  be,  for  I  can  not  now  rightly  recall 
[30] 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

whether  Sawney  MacAllister  came  ashore  that 
night  or  not — sat  before  her  beauty  as  though 
it  were  a  part  of  witchery,  for  there  was  a 
bookish  strangeness  to  it  that  on  this  wild  coast, 
in  a  nest  of  smugglers  and  free-traders,  after 
a  cruise  of  rough  living  and  deep  drinking,  we 
should  be  listening  to  the  voice  of  a  girl  whose 
beauty  was  upsetting  to  the  senses  of  man  and 
whose  bearing  denoted  breeding  of  the  highest 
order. 

She  left  us  after  a  second  singing,  bidding 
us  good-night  in  a  laughing,  friendly  fashion, 
and  looking  at  every  one,  save  me,  full  in  the 
eyes,  as  a  child  might  have  done ;  but  when  her 
hand  touched  mine,  her  eyes  fell  before  me,  and 
I,  who  knew  something  of  woman's  ways,  felt 
with  a  leaping  heart  that  she  knew. 

The  rest  were  gone  from  the  room  when 
Sandy  Carmichael,  who  had  made  the  pretense 
of  another  pipe,  came  back  to  me  as  I  stood 
looking  into  the  fire. 

"  You  saw  her  first !  "  he  said. 

"  Aye,"  I  answered,  "  and  it's  all  over 
with  me ! " 

"  Is  it  to  the  church  door?  "  he  asked. 
[31] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  II 

"  It's  to  the  foot  of  the  Throne  itself,"  I  an 
swered.  "  It's  wherever  she  leads,"  for  I  was 
young  and  phrase-making  was  in  the  blood. 

"  Well,"  he  says,  "  ye're  Lord  Stair,  and  if 
ye  choose  to  marry  a  gips— 

"  Choose !  "  '  I  cried.  "  I  have  no  choice. 
The  men  who  stand  balancing  as  to  whether 
they  will  or  they  won't,  with  '  Would  it  be 
wise?  *  or  '  Acceptable  to  the  world? '  I  have  no 
knowledge  of,  and  want  none,  as  I  have  told 
you  often." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I've  always  called  you 
crazy,  Jock  Stair,"  and  here  he  put  his  hand 
lovingly  on  my  shoulder,  "  but  I  never  discov 
ered  until  to-night  how  crazy  you  are.  I'm  not 
denying  there's  something  fine  about  it;  but  is 
it  sensible?  Think  o'  Pitcairn,"  he  said,  with 
a  laughing  devil  in  his  eye. 

"  Pitcairn  may  go  to  perdition,"  I  answered 
with  some  heat. 

"  It's  not  Pitcairn  that's  on  his  way  there, 
I'm  thinking,"  he  returned,  with  a  droll  look; 
"  but  we  must  all  learn  by  experience,  so  gang 
your  own  gate.  We're  off  at  five  in  the  morn 
ing.  Do  you  go!  " 

[32] 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

He  saw  by  my  manner  that  nothing  save  an 
earthquake  could  get  me  from  the  house,  and 
whistling,  with  some  significance,  "  The  Deil 
Has  Nae  Got  all  the  Fools,"  he  left  me  without 
a  good-by  word.  After  he  had  gone  I  went 
forth  into  the  open  to  be  alone.  The  stars  were 
shining  brightly  through  white  clouds,  which 
the  sea  winds  drove  across  the  sky,  and  far 
down  the  cliff  I  could  see  the  great  beach  fire 
and  catch  the  laughter  and  song  of  the  gipsy 
folk  and  free-traders. 

Tales  were  not  wanting  of  the  men  of  Stair 
who  had  lost  their  wits  when  crossed  in  love; 
who  had  run  away  with  other  men's  wives  and 
had  abided  with  some  jauntiness  the  world's 
dispraise,  cleaving  until  death  did  them  part  to 
the  one  woman  who  seemed  God-made  for  them. 
I  had  thought  before  this,  in  a  slighting  man 
ner,  of  the  strange  doings  of  my  forebears ;  but 
the  thing  was  upon  me,  and,  come  life,  come 
death,  I  knew  that  there  was  henceforward  for 
me  but  one  woman  in  the  world,  Marian  Ingar- 
rach,  an  Irish  gipsy-girl,  with  a  beauty  beyond 
the  natural,  and  a  voice  of  music  like  the  sound 
ing  of  an  old  harp. 

[33] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  II 

I  stood  under  the  great  tree,  the  blood  of  a 
man  and  a  lover  pulsing  sweet  and  feverishly 
through  my  veins,  when  I  saw  her  come  out 
on  the  balcony,  over  the  sea  door,  where  some 
posies  grew,  which  she  had  come  to  move  back 
from  the  wind.  I  was  not  one  to  lose  an  oppor 
tunity  like  this,  for  nature  in  me  was  strong 
and  impulse-driven.  I  crossed  the  space  which 
divided  us  and  spoke  up  to  her. 

"Will  you  come  down?"  I  called  to  her; 
"  I  have  that  which  I  would  say  to  you  to 
night." 

She  started  at  the  sound  of  my  voice,  hesi 
tated  for  a  moment,  and  with  no  answer  in 
words  disappeared  from  the  porch,  coming  out 
of  the  door  near  which  I  stood. 

Her  hair,  in  two  long  plaits,  hung  almost  to 
her  knees,  and  by  the  moonlight  I  could  see  the 
flush  of  her  cheek  and  the  silver  sheen  of  her 
eyes  as  she  looked  up  at  me  with  questioning 
in  her  glance,  and  I  remember  now  the  clutch 
at  my  throat  which  seemed  to  hold  back  all  I 
would  say,  as  I  took  off  my  cap  and  stood  be 
fore  her. 

"  I  love  you,"  I  said  headily,  "  I  love  you 
and  I  want  you  for  my  wife,"  and,  seeing  the 
[24] 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

highness  of  the  absurdity  that  my  first  words 
to  her  should  be  a  proposal  of  marriage,  I  cried, 

"  Oh,  my  dear !  my  dear !  ye'll  think  me  daft 
to  talk  thus;  but  we  men  of  Stair  go  gyte  in 
these  affairs.  'Tis  love  at  first  sight  with  us, 
or  none  at  all;  but  if  ye'll  have  me,  I'll  make 
ye  Lady  Stair;  and  what's  far  more,  I'll  try  to 
make  you  a  happy  woman  the  rest  of  your 
days. 

"  It  seems  wild  enough  for  me  to  be  talking 
so,"  I  went  on,  "  to  you,  who  do  not  even  know 
my  name,"  and  here  she  interrupted  me  with  a 
shy  smile. 

"  Jock !  "  she  said,  reaching  forth  her  hand, 
and  the  door  of  heaven  opened,  as  it  seemed. 

"  How  did  you  know  1 "  I  asked. 

"  Sure,"  she  said,  "  I  listened  for  it.  The 
other  big  man  called  you  that." 

"  You  cared  to  know !  "  I  whispered,  for  my 
arm  was  around  her  by  this  time,  and  the  world 
had  slipped  away. 

"  Very  much." 

"  And  you  think  you  could  learn  to  love  me, 
Marian? " 

I  felt  the  little  body  quiver  in  my  arms,  and 
when  she  spoke  there  was  fear  in  her  voice. 
[25] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  II 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  right!  "  she  asked.  "  Do 
you  think  it  can  be  right?  It  seems  as  though 
for  years,  for  all  my  life,  I  had  waited  for  your 
coming,  and  I  loved  you  the  minute  I  saw  you 
— you  whom  a  few  hours  agone  I  did  not  know 
to  be  a  living  man.  Tell  me,"  she  went  on  ex 
citedly,  "  you  who  are  a  man  and  of  the  world, 
can  this  be  all  good? " 

"  It  is  as  God  meant  such  things  to  fall,"  I 
answered  her,  "and  He  deal  so  with  me  as  I 
shall  deal  with  thee." 

"But,"  she  persisted,  "are  you  sure  you 
understand?  You  tell  me  you  are  Lord  of 
Stair,  and  I've  no  doubt  of  it,  for  truth  shines 
from  your  eyes;  but  what  do  you  ken  of  me? 
I  who  have  no  name,  who  was  left  by  some 
gipsy  folk  at  the  inn  door,  and  whose  breeding 
— what  I've  of  it — came  from  a  Jacobite  priest 
who  teaches  by  the  Cairn  Mills." 

There  was  never  another  voice  so  full  of 
music,  so  caressing  or  so  feminine,  as  Marian 
Ingarrach's,  none,  not  even  Nancy  Stair's ;  and 
as  she  uttered  these  depreciations  of  herself,  I 
exclaimed : 

"  You  are  as  I  would  have  you." 

"Entirely?" 

[26] 


CHAP.  II  NANCY   STAIR 

"  Entirely." 

"And  you'll  not  be  ashamed  of  me? " 

It  was  in  this  question  that  I  had  her  first 
teasing  of  me,  for  she  was  woman,  and  knew  as 
well  as  I  of  the  beauty,  which  gave  her  a  queen's 
right  to  the  hearts  of  men. 

"Ashamed  of  you,"  I  cried.  "Ah,  girl, 
dinna  ye  see  I  canna  get  my  breath  for  wantin' 
ye?" 

She  stood  looking  at  me,  her  chin  well  up 
and  an  amused  and  a  glad  look  in  her  eyes. 

"  Ah,"  she  said  at  length,  "  you  are  the  one 
who  is  worth  all  that  a  woman  has  to  give,  and 
the  blood  of  all  the  lawless  folk  of  which  I  come 
speaks  for  you,  Jock  Stair!  For  ye  woo  as  a 
man  should  woo;  and  I'm  won  as  a  woman 
should  be  won,  because  she  has  no  will  left  to 
choose." 

And  she  turned  her  face  toward  mine. 

"I'm  just  yours  for  the  asking,  Jock." 

I  drew  her  to  me,  and  we  kissed  each  other 
beneath  the  starlit  blue,  with  the  sea  wind  blow 
ing  our  hair  and  the  gipsy  singing  coming,  in 
broken  bits  of  melody,  up  through  the  gorse 
and  heather. 

I  made  a  song  of  it  after,  in  my  limping 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  II 

verse,  which  Nancy  found  one  day,  and  laughed 
at,  I  remember: 

The  gipsies  are  out,  I  can  see  their  lights  moving, 
Race  answers  to  race,  'neath  the  stars  and  the  blue ; 

They  are  living  and  laughing  and  mating  and  loving, 
As  I  stand  in  the  midnight  with  you,  love,  with  you! 


[38] 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    TREASURE    BECOMES    MINE,    BUT    IS    CLAIMED 
BY  ITS   OWNER 

THERE  was  no  sleep  for  me  that  night,  and 
I  lay  awake  till  the  clear  day,  watching  the  gulls 
fly  across  the  window  and  waiting  the  time  when 
I  might  see  her  once  again.  Early  as  it  was 
when  I  arose,  the  wee  bit  lassie  who  brought 
me  the  hot  water  said  in  answer  to  my  inquiry 
that  the  other  gentlemen  had  been  gone  since 
the  daybreak,  and  declining  her  offer  of  break 
fasting  in  my  room,  I  went  down  to  the  spence, 
hoping  that  Marian  might  be  there  before  me. 
I  found  the  room  empty,  however,  save  for 
Dame  Dickenson,  who  had  spread  a  table  for 
me  between  the  fire  and  the  window,  through 
which  I  could  see  the  waves  curl  on  the  lower 
beach  and  the  sunshine  break  into  flying  sparks 
over  the  fine  blue  sea.  I  was  never  one  to  mince 
words  when  there  was  aught  to  be  said,  nor  to 
put  off  settling  until  another  time  a  thing  which 
could  be  fixed  upon  the  moment. 
[39] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  HI 

"  Sit  ye  down,"  I  said  to  the  little  body,  who 
was  plainly  of  a  rank  and  comprehension  above 
the  vulgar.  "  Sit  ye  down !  There  are  a  few 
words  that  I  would  like  to  have  with  ye." 

She  remained  standing,  but  paused  in  her 
employ  to  give  me  a  wordless  attention  as  I 
went  on: 

"  I  am  John  Stair,  Lord  of  Stair  and  Alton 
in  the  Mearns,  and  I  want  to  marry  your  ward, 
Marian  Ingarrach." 

She  set  the  rest  of  the  dishes  before  me  as 
though  not  hearing  my  speech,  but  I  saw  the 
corners  of  her  mouth  twitch  a  bit  and,  after  re 
moving  the  cover  of  the  haddie,  she  cast  a  glance 
over  the  top  of  my  head  rather  than  directly  at 
me,  as  she  said : 

"  Ye're  a  cautious  body,  Lord  Stair." 

"  I  know  what  I  intend  to  do,"  I  answered, 
and  there  was  a  silence  between  us  for  a  space. 

"  Ye're  a  quare  man,"  she  broke  forth  pres 
ently,  looking  at  me  humorously  over  her 
glasses.  "  Aye,  a  quare  man !  Ye  come  here 
with  a  pack  of  riotous  livers  from  Edinburgh, 
clap  your  eyes  on  my  young  lady  for  the  first 
time  last  night,  and  are  for  marryin'  her  off 
hand  this  morning  with  no  more  to  do  over  it 
[30] 


CHAP.  Ill  NANCY    STAIR 

than  if  marryin'  was  a  daily  performance  of 
yours." 

I  said  no  words,  but  regarded  her  with  a 
smile. 

"  Sure,"  she  went  on,  looking  at  me  with 
great  equanimity,  "  ye  canna  soften  my  heart 
by  your  smilin'.  Ye're  a  handsome  man,  my 
lord,  and  ye've  the  strong  way  with  ye  that 
black  men  often  have;  but  I've  met  in  with 
handsome  men  afore  now,  and  the  handsomer 
the  more  to  be  feared.  Dickenson  was  a  dark 
man  himself,"  she  added,  with  a  twinkle  in  her 
eye.  Another  silence  fell  between  us,  as  I 
watched  her  needles  click  in  and  out  and  catch 
the  firelight. 

"  Perhaps,"  she  said  presently,  "  ye'd  like 
to  have  a  little  knowledge  of  the  girl  you're 
wantin'  for  a  wife." 

"  It's  the  matter  which  lies  nearest  my  heart 
at  the  moment,"  I  answered  her ;  and  at  this  her 
voice  and  face  became  more  serious,  and  she 
stopped  her  knitting,  looking  direetly  at  me  as 
she  spoke. 

"There's  little  to  tell,"  she  began,  "little 
that  I  could  take  book-oath  to,  I  mean,  for  one 
bad  night  in  March,  eighteen  years  back,  I 
[31] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  Ill 

heard  a  wail  at  the  door,  and  opening  it  found 
a  gipsy-hamper  with  the  baby  inside.  She  was 
finely  dressed  and  there  was  a  note  pinned  OB 
her  little  shirt,  which — wait  a  bit,"  she  said,  "  I 
can  show  it  ye."  At  this  she  crossed  the  room 
to  a  wooden  cupboard,  unlocked  the  door,  and 
took  from  it  a  small  box,  the  key  of  which  she 
had  in  her  bosom.  Opening  this  she  handed 
me  a  slip  of  paper,  upon  which  was  written,  in 
a  coarse  male  hand: 

"  HARRIET  DICKENSON  : 

"  If  you  will  keep  the  child  money  will  be  sent  for  you 
and  her.     I  want  her  brought  up  a  lady." 

"  There  was  a  roll  of  gold  in  the  basket  with 
her,  forty  pounds,  my  lord.  And  the  writer  has 
kept  his  word.  Money  has  been  sent  ever  since, 
sometimes  from  Italy,  once  from  Russia,  and 
then  from  the  Far  East.  That  is  all  that  I 
know." 

"  But  you  have  beliefs  concerning  the  mat 
ter?"  I  asked. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  though  the  truth  of  them 

could  not  be  proved.    Twenty  years  ago,  when 

I  was  maid  at  Squire  Eglinton's,  on  the  Irish 

coast,  near  Carrickfergus,  he  had  one  daugh- 

[33] 


CHAP.  Ill  NANCY    STAIR 

ter,  a  flower  of  a  girl,  who  ran  away  with  a 
gipsy  man  she  met  in  her  father's  park.  The 
young  lady  loved  me  and  knew  where  my  home 
in  Scotland  was.  I  have  thought,  my  lord,  that 
mayhap  she  died,  and  'twas  the  father-man  who 
brought  the  baby  to  my  door.  I  have  told  you 
all  but  this :  if  Miss  Eileen  ever  had  a  daughter, 
it  could  not  be  more  like  her  than  Marian  is." 

A  hundred  questions  came  to  me  at  once, 
but  before  one  of  them  was  asked  I  had  a  sight 
of  the  girl  herself,  coming  from  the  country 
side  of  the  house,  the  wind  blowing  her  hair 
about  her  face  and  carrying  away  swarms  of 
white  petals  from  the  hawthorn-blooms  she  held 
in  her  arms.  As  she  was  hid  from  my  sight  by 
the  corner  of  the  house,  Sandy  Carmichael  en 
tered  the  room,  his  hands  thrust  far  into  his 
pockets,  and  his  pipe  held  at  a  curious  angle 
between  his  teeth. 

"  What !  "  I  cried  in  amazement.  "  You 
here !  I  thought  you  were  gone  at  daylight." 

"  Did  ye  now  I  "  he  asked,  with  raillery  in 
his  voice.  "  Did  ye  think,"  and  he  put  his  hand 
on  my  shoulder  after  his  own  fashion,  "  did  you 
think  I'd  leave  you,  Jock,  in  this,  your  last  ex 
tremity?  Ye're  not  married  yet? "  he  went  on 
[33] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  HI 

jokingly,  "I'm  not  too  late  for  the  wedding? 
Oh,"  he  broke  out  with  a  laugh,  "  how  have  the 
mighty  fallen!" 

"  Not  yet,"  I  answered  him ;  "  but  it  will  be 
no  fault  of  mine  if  I'm  not  a  married  man  by 
night." 

He  changed  color  at  this,  and  getting  the 
dame  on  his  side  the  two  of  them  urged  a  wait 
ing — I  know  not  for  what;  and  more  thought, 
which  would  have  brought  me  to  the  same  con 
clusion  ;  but  their  talk  and  their  arguments  went 
high  over  my  head,  for  I  was  fixed  as  fate  that 
nothing  but  Marian's  mind  against  it  could 
move  me  from  the  wish  I  had.  As  the  three 
of  us  stood  thus,  the  talk  going  back  and  forth, 
the  girl  came  into  the  room,  and  at  sight  of  me 
went  white,  changing  on  the  instant  to  a  glori 
ous  pink,  which  flushed  her  face  all  over  like 
a  rose. 

"  Good  morning,  Lord  Stair,"  she  said. 

I  crossed  the  room,  and  took  her  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

"  Marian,"  I  said,  "  will  you  marry  me  to 
day?" 

She  sent  a  hurried  look  around  the  three  of 
us,  and  as  a  woman  discovers  things,  knew  that 
[34] 


CHAP.  Ill  NANCT   STAIR 

they  were  against  me  in  the  matter.  It  took 
her  not  one  second  to  decide  for  me,  and  my 
being  leaped  toward  her  as  she  spoke. 

"When  you  will,  my  lord,"  she  said.  "I 
have  no  wishes  that  are  not  your  own." 

It  was  a  little  past  noon  of  the  same  day, 
with  none  to  see  save  Sandy  Carmichael,  Dame 
Dickenson,  and  Uncle  Ben,  that  Father  Pierre, 
from  the  Cairn  Mills,  made  Marian  and  myself 
one  in  a  marriage  such  as  the  gods  intended 
when  the  world  was  young  and  the  age  of 
gold. 

About  three  o'clock  Sandy  left  us,  going  on 
horse  to  join  his  party,  which  was  to  lay  by  for 
him  at  Landgore.  Marian  and  I  walked  with 
him  far  beyond  the  sea  light,  he  leading  his 
horse  and  telling  us  that  it  was  but  the  strong 
remembrance  that  he  had  a  wife  at  home  which 
prevented  his  carrying  her  away  with  him.  He 
had  great  joy  in  my  happiness,  and  his  strong 
laugh  rolled  round  and  round  in  echoes  among 
the  rocks  as  we  went  along  together.  Before 
we  parted  his  mood  changed  a  bit,  and  he 
turned  suddenly  and  laid  his  arm  across  my 
shoulder. 

"You'll  not  forget  me,  laddie?"  he  said 
4  [35] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP,  in 

earnestly,  with  his  head  turned  a  bit  from  me 
so  that  his  eyes  could  not  be  seen. 

Our  hands  gripped  each  other  at  the  end,  as 
though  we  could  not  speak  the  word  of  good- 
by,  and  my  dear,  who  knew  the  thought — that 
my  marriage  might  in  some  way  make  the 
friendship  between  us  less  close — took  our 
locked  hands  between  her  little  ones  and  held 
them  to  her  breast. 

"  Believe  me,"  she  said,  as  though  making 
a  vow,  "  that  all  I  can  ever  do  to  make  this 
friendship  stronger  I  shall  do;  oh,  believe  me 
in  that!" 

Sandy  kissed  her  on  the  cheek,  she  stuck  a 
piece  of  pink  heather  in  his  coat,  and  he 
mounted  his  horse  and  was  off  at  a  bolt.  Twice 
we  saw  him  turn  and  wave  his  cap  toward  us; 
we  called  to  him,  and  he  shouted  back  some 
thing  in  return,  the  meaning  of  which  we  were 
unable  to  discover,  and  so  went  down  a  sudden 
turn  of  the  rocks  and  was  lost  to  sight. 


There   are   some  parts   of  every  life   that 
can  not  be  set  forth.    The  first  sacred  months 
of  my  marriage  are  of  these.     The  little  inn, 
[361 


CHAP.  Ill  NANCY   STAIR 

which  was  no  longer  in  Dame  Dickenson's  pos 
session,  I  purchased,  and  we  made  it  into  a 
home.  And  the  time  is  all  of  Marian !  Marian 
standing  in  white  in  the  going  down  of  the 
braeside  to  welcome  me;  Marian  on  my  knee 
in  the  twilight  looking  out  seaward  and  star- 
ward;  Marian  with  her  brown  head  and  face, 
such  as  the  angels  have,  resting  on  my  breast 
in  the  gold  of  the  dawning ;  Marian — Marian — 
Marian — I,  an  old  man,  who  was  once  that 
bonny  Jock  Stair,  all  your  own,  call  to  you. 
Can  you  come?  Will  it  ever  be  again?  See! 
I  stretch  my  hands,  wrinkled,  old,  to  that  far 
off  blue,  and  ask  you,  as  I  have  a  thousand 
times,  to  send  me  peace. 


All  that  summer  we  lived  in  the  little  house, 
and  toward  autumn  there  were  reasons  why  my 
wife  should  not  be  troubled  with  new  cares. 
Sandy  came  to  see  us  frequently;  whiles  I  ran 
up  to  Edinburgh  to  tend  to  needful  matters. 
One  day  in  March,  because  of  some  wish  my 
dear  had  half  expressed,  I  went  to  town  to  get 
some  of  the  jewels  with  which  the  Ladies  Stair 
had  adorned  themselves  in  days  gone  by.  I 
[37] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  HI 

had  promised  a  short  absence,  but  there  was  a 
matter  of  some  fastenings  to  be  mended  at  the 
goldsmith's,  and  my  stay  was  three  days.  Rid 
ing  backward  as  fast  as  a  postboy,  I  came  on 
the  porch  suddenly  to  find  a  weeper,  as  if  one 
were  dead,  hanging  upon  the  knocker.  Drop 
ping  the  box  and  riding-whip  I  pushed  the  door 
ajar  with  a  great  shove  and  entered,  upon 
Dame  Dickenson,  who  was  coming  out  of  her 
room,  from  which  place  I  heard  a  faint  cry. 
Her  eyes  were  red  with  weeping;  she  looked 
scared  and  went  white  at  the  sight  of  me,  and 
with  a  horrid  presentiment  of  trouble,  I  cried 
on  the  instant,  in  a  voice  which  I  heard  myself 
as  coming  from  some  other: 

"Where  is  she?" 

"  Oh,  my  lord,"  she  said,  and  her  voice  broke 
and  went  off  into  a  shriek,  "  did  ye  no  meet  wi' 
Mr.  Cannichael?  He's  gone  for  ye." 

"  I  met  nobody,"  I  cried,  and  again  there 
was  a  tiny  wail  as  of  a  new-born  babe  from  the 
next  room. 

"  Oh,  my  lord ! "  she  cried  again,  springing 

forward  and  putting  herself  between  me  and  the 

doorway  which  I  made  to  enter.    "  Ask  God  for 

strength  to  bear  what' s  been  sent  ye.     Say  a 

[381 


CHAP.  Ill  NANCY    STAIR 

prayer,  my  lord.  Ask  Him  to  let  ye  remember 
the  baby  that's  come  to  you.  Pray,  0  my 
lord,"  she  cried ;  "  prepare  yourself." 

I  pushed  her  from  me  and  threw  the  door 
wide  open. 

There  was  a  body  in  the  room  laid  out  for 
burial,  with  candles  burning  at  the  head  and 
foot — a  slim,  young,  girlish  body;  and  as 
Father  Pierre,  who  was  kneeling  by  it,  turned 
his  face  toward  mine  I  knew  that  Marian,  be 
cause  of  me,  had  gone  forever.  Something 
seemed  to  strike  me  at  the  back  of  the  head  and 
a  black  vapor  fell  before  my  eyes  and  stopped 
my  breath — I  knew  that  Father  Pierre  caught 
me  in  his  arms,  a  merciful  unconsciousness 
seized  me,  and  everything  faded  away. 


When  I  came  to  myself  I  was  in  my  own 
sleeping-room  at  Stair,  a  night-light  burning  on 
the  table,  and  some  one  on  the  other  side  of 
the  screen  sat  reading  by  the  fire.  I  saw  the 
top  of  the  head  over  the  chair-rail,  and  knew  it 
was  Sandy  CarmichaePs.  Five  weeks  longer  I 
lay  there,  and  on  toward  midsummer,  my  fever 
having  lasted  four  months,  Sandy  proposed  I 
[39] 


NANCY   STAIE  CHAP.  Ill 

should  start  as  soon  as  I  was  able  and  tour  the 
world.  It  had  been  an  old  dream  of  mine,  but 
with  little  taste  for  life,  I  set  sail  from  Glasgow 
for  Gibraltar  some  time  in  August,  1769,  to 
visit  other  lands  and  see  new  lives  with  old  sor 
rows  like  my  own. 


[40] 


CHAPTER   IV 

ENTER   NANCY   STAIB 

I  HAD  been  from  Scotland  near  five  years, 
when  two  letters  were  handed  to  me  as  I  sat  in 
The  British  Sailors'  Tavern,  in  Calcutta;  one 
of  which  was  from  Hugh  Pitcairn  and  the  other 
from  Sandy  Carmichael.  I  thought  as  I  read 
them  what  characteristic  epistles  they  were,  for 
Hugh's  read  as  though  I  had  parted  from  him 
but  the  day  before,  and  urged  my  return  to  look 
after  some  land  interest  which  he  as  my  solici 
tor  felt  should  have  my  immediate  supervision. 

"  There  is  another  thing,"  he  added,  "  which 
should  bring  you  home.  Huey  MacGrath  is  ail 
ing  and  I  fear  is  sickening  to  die." 

Sandy  spoke,  as  was  his  way,  of  our  old 
affection  and  his  wish  to  see  me  once  again,  and 
he  ended  by  a  tender  reference  to  the  baby  of 
mine  who  was  growing,  a  big  girl  and  needed 
me,  he  said. 

God  knows  how  lonely  I  was  when  these 
two  letters  came  to  me,  and  the  thoughts  of 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IV 

home  and  a  child  dependent  upon  me  brought, 
for  the  first  time  since  my  dread  trouble,  a  sense 
of  comfort.  Huey  sick  unto  death  was  another 
call  to  my  heart,  and  in  four  days'  time  I  was 
homeward  bound. 

Before  I  stepped  ashore  at  Leith  it  was 
Sandy  who  waved  to  me  from  the  quay ;  Sandy 
whose  hand  gripped  mine  so  hard  the  fingers 
ached  for  days ;  Sandy  whose  eyes  beamed  with 
joy  as  he  looked  at  me  and  took  me  back  to  Stair. 

"  I've  been  living  on  the  docks  awaiting  your 
return  until  the  town  doubtless  thinks  I'm  going 
for  a  sailor,"  he  cried.  "  Well,  it's  good  to  have 
you  back,  Jock  Stair — and  I  believe  that  Huey 
MacGrath's  illness  is  little  more  than  a  longing 
for  the  sight  of  you." 

On  our  ride  homeward  his  whole  talk  turned 
about  his  boy  Danvers,  of  whom  he  spoke  with 
unfettered  approval  and  satisfaction,  which 
came  from  a  strange  source. 

"  He  looks  like  you,  Jock  Stair !  It's  heav 
en's  truth  that  he's  the  image  of  you  t  It  seems 
odd  that  I,  who  am  a  brown  man,  should  have 
a  son  with  an  olive  skin  and  hair  like  ink,  but 
it's  a  fact.  And  he's  like  ye  in  other  ways,  for 
he  rides  like  a  monkey  and  can  thrash  any  one 
[48] 


CHAP.  IV  NANCY    STAIR 

of  his  weight  in  the  county.  Aye,"  he  concluded, 
"  ye'll  be  proud  of  Danvers !  " 

"  And  what  of  my  girl  f  "  I  asked. 

"  Nancy,"  he  said,  a  curious  look  coming 
into  his  face  as  he  smiled ;  "  she's  one  you  must 
see  to  judge  of  for  yourself.  IVe  raised  her  up 
as  well  as  I  could.  I've  spent  time  with  her !  " 

His  determined  reticence,  which  had  some 
humor  in  it,  put  me  on  my  metal  concerning  the 
child,  and  the  day  after  my  arrival  I  sent  Tarn 
MacColl  with  a  written  request  to  Dame  Dicken- 
son  to  fetch  the  little  one  immediately  to  Stair. 

Six  days  later  Tarn  returned  bringing  a 
large  sheet  of  paper,  which  I  have  before  me 
as  I  write.  It  was  folded  after  a  curious  fash 
ion,  with  no  address,  and  opening  it  I  found 
the  following: 


* 


i 

./V 


[43] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IV 

For  the  first  time  in  five  years  I  laughed 
aloud.  This  was  something  worth.  Here  was 
an  atom,  not  yet  five,  who  took  her  pen  in  hand 
and  misspelled  her  firm  intention  to  do  as  she 
chose.  I  folded  the  paper  and  laid  it  aside, 
wondering  what  kind  of  offspring  I  had  be 
gotten,  and  the  following  morning  took  horse 
to  Landgore  to  see  this  very  determined  little 
body  for  myself. 

As  I  came  in  sight  of  the  place  after  my  long 
ride,  strange  voices  called  to  me  from  the  sea, 
from  the  heather,  from  the  great  copper  birch 
over  the  house.  Eyes  long  dead  seemed  look 
ing  into  mine,  hands  were  on  my  hair,  and  there 
came  to  me,  with  the  feeling  of  mortal  sickness, 
the  terrible,  sweet  remembrances  of  an  early 
passion  and  of  things  to  be  known  to  none  save 
Marian  and  me  and  the  One  who  does  most 
wisely  for  the  Great  End,  but  bitterly  to  us  who 
see  but  a  little  of  the  way. 

Reaching  the  porch,  my  strength  left  me 
utterly,  and  I  leaned  against  one  of  the  wooden 
pillars  for  support.  Standing  thus,  I  saw  a 
child  running  down  the  braeside  at  the  top  of 
her  speed,  with  no  knowledge  of  my  presence, 
but  coming  at  her  fastest  to  reach  the  house. 
[44] 


CHAP.  IV  NANCY   STAIR 

She  wore  a  short-waisted  black  frock,  with  a 
very  long  skirt,  which  almost  touched  the 
ground.  On  her  feet  were  red  shoes,  which 
twinkled  in  and  out  of  the  black,  as  with  great 
great  dexterity  and  lightness,  she  clambered  up 
the  steps  of  the  porch  and  stood  before  me,  one 
of  the  miracles  of  God  before  which  we  human 
folk  stand  abashed.  For  here  was  Marian 
again.  Marian  to  the  turn  of  an  eyelash;  to 
the  finger  tips;  in  the  bronze  chestnut  curls 
which  stood  like  a  halo  round  the  face;  in  the 
supple  little  woman-body ;  in  all  the  dear,  quaint, 
beautiful  baby  who  stood  before  me  devouring 
me  with  gray  eyes,  and  looking  at  me  with  a 
radiant,  shy  smile  as  she  held  a  kitten  tail  up 
against  her  breast. 

After  a  few  seconds'  regard  of  me,  during 
which  I  could  see  by  her  face  that  she  was 
piecing  some  bits  of  knowledge  together,  she 
clapped  her  hands. 

"  Jock !  "  she  cried,  with  a  rapturous  smile. 

I  can  never  tell  the  joy  and  horror  of  the 
moment,  for  my  name  was  the  first  word  my 
beloved  had  ever  spoken  to  me,  and  at  the  sound 
of  it  from  this,  her  child,  my  heart  leaped  into 
my  throat;  there  came  a  whirring  in  the  top  of 
[45] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IV 

my  head  and  a  singing  in  my  ears,  and  as  I 
sank  upon  the  old  stone  settle  something  like 
a  moan  escaped  me. 

In  the  next  minute  I  knew  Nancy  Stair  for 
all  time.  The  sight  of  suffering  seemed  to  put 
her  past  herself,  and,  dashing  toward  me,  she 
climbed  up  on  the  seat.  I  could  feel  the  warmth 
of  her  body  and  the  clinging  of  her  dimpled 
arm  as  she  drew  my  head  against  her  naked, 
palpitating  little  breast  as  though  to  defend  me 
from  suffering  against  the  whole  world. 

"  Oh,  you  poor  fing !  "  she  cried.  "  You  poor 
fing!  Does  you  hurt?  " 

When  I  had  in  some  degree  recovered  my 
self-control,  the  child  sat  down  beside  me,  so 
close  that  she  pushed  her  small  body  against 
mine,  with  one  rose-leaf  of  a  hand  laid  upon 
my  knee  in  a  protective  fashion,  every  little 
while  giving  me  a  pat,  as  a  mother  soothes  a 
child. 

Sitting  thus,  my  arm  around  her,  my  soul 
stirred  to  its  depths,  my  eyes  brooded  over  all 
her  baby  charms. 

She  was  of  a  slender,  round  figure,  with 
dimpled  neck  and  arms.  Her  head  was  broad, 
her  forehead  low,  with  noticeably  black  brows, 
[46] 


CHAP.  IV  NANCY   STATE 

and  she  had  a  way,  when  perplexed,  I  very  soon 
discovered,  of  drawing  these  together,  the  right 
one  falling  a  bit  lower  than  the  left.  It  was  the 
eyes  which  struck  one  first,  however;  brooding, 
passionate,  observant,  quick  to  look  within  or 
without,  and  fearless  in  their  glance.  Mrs.  Opie 
states  that  they  were  black,  and  Reynolds 
painted  them  bright  blue;  but  the  truth  is,  that 
they  were  like  her  mother's,  clear  gray,  with 
pupils  of  unusual  size,  and  heavy  lashed,  espe 
cially  on  the  under  lid. 

She  was  still  under  five,  but  I  had  not  been 
with  her  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  I  recog 
nized  a  potent  and  wonderful  personality  and 
knew  that  there  was  something  which  this  small 
soul  had  in  her  keeping  to  give  the  world  which 
others  have  not. 

"  Sandy  was  here,"  I  heard  her  sweet  voice 
saying  when  I  had  recovered  myself.  "  Sandy 
was  nere  one  day.  He  fetched  the  drey  hen  you 
sent  me."  Here  she  patted  my  knee,  looking  up 
as  though  to  assure  me  of  her  protection. 

"  He  said  the  rabbits  were  from  you,"  she 
went  on;  "and  the  owl  got  broke  that  was  in 
the  box.  It  was  too  little  for  him." 

"  Sandy  brought  me,"  she  said  finally,  "  the 
[47] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IV 

child  that  stares  so,"  and  she  pointed,  her  eye 
brows  puckered  together,  at  a  rag-doll,  with 
painted  cheeks  and  round,  offensive  eyes,  sitting 
head  down  in  a  corner  of  the  porch. 

Beyond  money,  I  had  not  sent  even  a  mes 
sage  to  the  child  in  all  these  years  of  absence, 
and  my  heart  filled  with  gratitude  to  that  friend 
who  had  made  me  a  fairy-grandfather  and  won 
a  child's  love  for  me,  who  was  so  unthoughtful 
and  so  far  away. 

As  we  sat  thus,  Dame  Dickenson  heard  the 
sound  of  voices,  and  came  from  the  house  to 
welcome  me  with  a  smile,  though  the  tears  were 
in  her  eyes  as  she  spoke  her  words  of  welcome. 

Her  life  of  ease  and  freedom  from  money- 
care  had  changed  her  greatly,  and  with  her 
black  silk  frock,  her  lace  kerchief  and  cap,  she 
seemed  quite  like  some  old  gentlewoman.  I 
tried,  knowing  the  inadequacy  of  words,  even 
while  speaking,  to  thank  her  for  my  wonderful 
child,  when  she  interrupted  me. 

"I  should  have  died  but  for  her — after" — 
she  broke  off  here,  not  wishing  to  name  the  sor 
row  between  us.  "  But  you've  not  seen  the  won 
der  of  her  yet;  she  has  the  whole  Cairn  Mills 
bewitched,  and  if  she  were  a  queen  on  her  throne 
[48] 


CHAP.  IV  NANCY    STAIR 

could  not  have  her  way  more  than  she  does 
now." 

It  was  of  a  piece  with  the  Dame's  thought- 
fulness  to  have  prepared  for  me  a  room  which 
I  had  never  known,  and  where  no  memories 
dwelt;  a  low-raftered  apartment  on  the  land- 
side  of  the  house,  with  a  window  looking  over 
the  garden  and  a  fire  burning  cheerily  in  the  cor 
ner  chimney.  Dropping  off  to  sleep,  happier  than 
I  thought  it  possible  for  me  to  be  again,  I  be 
came  aware  that  there  was  some  one  in  the  room 
with  me.  Opening  my  eyes,  I  found  Nancy, 
with  her  long  white  gown  gathered  on  her  breast 
to  keep  it  from  the  floor,  standing  looking  at 
me,  her  head  about  level  with  my  own  as  it  lay 
on  the  pillow. 

"What  is  it?  "I  asked. 

"  GetinwifJock,"  she  answered. 

"What?"  I  inquired  again,  for  she  had 
slipped  her  words  all  together. 

"  Get — in — wif — Jock,"  she  repeated,  with 
an  unmistakable  movement  of  her  small  hand 
to  turn  back  the  bed  covers. 

"You  darling!"  I  cried,  and  drew  her  in 
beside  me. 

The  tenderness  I  felt  for  her  as  she  lay  on 
[49] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IV 

my  breast  was  akin  to  agony.  I  trembled  at  the 
touch  of  her,  and  what  she  meant  to  me,  and  all 
that  I  had  missed.  And  long  after  she  fell 
asleep,  I  lay,  seeing  the  past  with  new  eyes,  un 
derstanding  new  truths,  and  making  myself, 
please  God,  a  better  man. 

I  woke  the  next  morning  about  eight,  to  find 
her  gone,  but  as  I  was  dressing  by  the  window 
I  saw  her  below  me  in  the  garden,  busy  with 
some  hens  that  were  clucking  all  about  her. 

"  Hello,  Little  Flower,"  I  called  to  her.* 

She  smiled  up  at  me,  blinking  in  the  strong 
sunshine,  and  I  hastened  down  to  join  her. 

"  Are  you  willing  to  come  back  with  me  to 
Stair?"  I  asked. 

"We're  getting  ready,  Jock,"  she  answered, 
putting  her  hand  in  mine. 

"  We  1 "  I  inquired.    "  Whom  do  you  mean  1  " 

"  Nancy  Stair,"  she  said,  touching  herself  on 
the  breast  with  her  small  forefinger,  "  Dame 
Dickenson,  Father  Michel,  Uncle  Ben,  the  two 


*  The  name  came  to  me  with  no  thought,  but  for  years  it  was  the 
one  she  fancied  most,  and  many  of  her  early  poems  were  signed 
L.  F.  S.,  or  sometimes  by  nothing  save  a  queer  little  drawing,  half 
rose  and  half  daisy. 

(The  manuscript  of  the  "  Maid  with  the  Wistfu'  Eye  "  in  the 
Edinburgh  collection  has  only  this  mark  as  signature.) 

[50] 


CHAP.  IV  NANCY    STAIK 

or  three  dogs,  the  kittens,  the  one  without  a 
name,  the  drey  hen,  and  the  broken  owl " 

"  Nancy  Stair,"  I  broke  in,  with  some  firm 
ness  in  my  voice,  "  it  will  be  utterly  impossible 
to  take  all  these  folk  up  to  Stair  Castle." 

She  looked  at  me  and  went  white,  as  grown 
people  do  when  news  which  chills  the  blood  is 
suddenly  brought  to  them,  and  struck  her  little 
hands  together  as  though  in  pain.  Turning 
suddenly  she  left  me  and  trotted  oft*  through  a 
cleft  in  the  stone  wall  of  the  kitchen  garden,  to 
which  place  I  followed  her,  with  remorse  in  my 
heart  for  the  rough  way  in  which  I  had  spoken. 

I  found  her  lying  flat  in  the  grass,  her  face 
hidden  in  her  arms,  her  body  trembling,  but  she 
made  no  sound. 

"  What  is  it,  dear?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  can't  go,"  she  said,  without  looking  up, 
"  I  can't  go,  Jock." 

"Why?  "I  inquired. 

She  arose  at  this  and  leaned  against  me,  her 
head  but  little  above  my  knee  and  her  eyes  look 
ing  straight  up  into  mine. 

"Oh,  don't  you  see?"  she  cried.  "I  can't 
go ! — I  can't  go  and  leave  my  people,  Jock !  " 

I  can  see  now  that  then  was  the  time  I 
5  [511 


NANCY   STAIE  CHAP.  IV 

should  have  heen  firm  with  her,  and  have  es 
caped  the  tyranny  of  latter  years.  Firm  with 
her!  Firm!  while  Nancy  stood  leaning  against 
me  with  her  baby  curls  under  my  hand.  Firm ! 
with  eyes  that  held  tears  in  them,  tears  which 
I  had  caused. 

"  Take  them,"  I  cried,  "  take  the  free-traders, 
the  old  wreck,  the  Cairn  Mills,  and  the  new 
light-house,  for  all  of  me;  but  never  let  me  see 
that  look  in  your  face  again,  my  little  one ! " 
and  I  had  her  in  my  arms,  as  weak  a  father  as 
I  had  been  as  lover  and  as  husband,  with  the 
resulting  that  I,  John  Stair,  Lord  of  Stair  and 
Alton  in  the  Mearns,  in  company  with  Dame 
Dickenson,  Father  Michel,  Uncle  Ben,  the  two 
or  three  dogs,  the  kittens,  the  Nameless  One, 
the  "  drey  hen,"  and  a  small  child  holding  a 
dissipated-looking  owl  with  but  one  whole 
feather  in  its  tail,  drove  up  to  the  gateway  of 
Stair  Castle  in  a  gipsy  wagon  of  an  abandoned 
character,  on  the  afternoon  of  a  day  in  late 
February,  in  the  year  1773. 


[52] 


CHAPTEK   V 

I   MAKE   THE  ACQUAINTANCE   OF  A   STEANGE   CHILD 

SEVEBAL  days  after  this  strange  home-com 
ing  some  business  called  me  to  the  far  woods, 
where  I  was  detained  until  the  afternoon  sun 
was  well  on  its  way  behind  the  hills.  Nearing 
the  house  I  discovered  Nancy  huddled  in  a  lit 
tle  bunch,  sitting  by  her  lee-lane  in  a  spot  of 
sunshine  on  the  west  steps — such  a  lovable, 
touchable  little  bundle  as  she  sat  there,  with  her 
chin  in  her  hand.  I  looked  for  the  exuberant 
welcome  which  I  had  always  received,  but  it  was 
wanting;  and  as  I  stood  waiting  some  greeting 
from  her,  she  made  a  quaint  gesture  of  dis 
missal  to  me: 

"Jock  mustn't  disturb  Nancy  now,"  she 
said ;  "  Nancy's  making  verses."  There  was  in 
the  atom's  voice  nothing  but  a  statement  of  her 
wishes.  That  I  was  her  father  and  one  to  be 
obeyed  never  entered  her  curly  head,  and  her 
tone  implied  the  belief  that  I  would  respect  her 
rights  as  she  would  mine.  I  can  honestly  state 
[53] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  V 

that  I  never  was  more  dismayed  in  my  life.  I 
entered  the  library,  wondering  what  had  hap 
pened  in  my  absence,  and  considering  whether 
to  send  for  Dickenson  and  make  some  inquiries. 

It  was  gone  a  half  hour  perhaps  before 
Nancy  came  in  through  the  low  window,  and 
crossing  the  room  to  the  place  I  sat,  leaned  her 
self  against  my  knee. 

"  Listen,"  she  said : 

Jock  Stair's  gone  away, 

Where  I  cannot  fancy. 
Jock  Stair's  gone  away, 

Gone  and  left  his  Nancy. 

O,  Jock,  I  cannot  say 

How  much  I  miss  you, 
If  you  were  here  to-day 

Nancy  would  kiss  you. 

Her  cheeks  were  roses,  her  eyes  shone  with 
a  misty  light,  and  the  verse  so  rapturous  to  her 
self  that  she  struck  her  little  hands  together 
when  she  had  finished. 

"Do  you  like  it,  Jock?  Is  it  pretty?"  she 
asked. 

"  You  blessed  baby,"  I  answered,  "  who 
taught  you?" 

"  They  come,"  she  said,  "  and  afterward 
Nancy's  head-iks,"  and  she  put  her  morsel  of 
[54] 


CHAP.  V  NANCY   STAIE 

a  hand  to  her  forehead,  as  a  grown  person  with 
headache  does. 

"  Head-iks!  "  she  said  again  with  emphasis. 

The  second  day  after  this  remarkable  event, 
Sandy,  who  was  riding  by,  called  over  the  wall 
to  me,  as  I  stood  with  Nancy  by  my  side. 

"  Well,"  he  cried,  "  what  do  you  think  of  my 
girl,  Nancy  Stair?" 

"  The  same  that  you  do  yourself,"  I  re 
torted.  "  Come  in  and  lunch  with  us,  won't 
you! " 

He  made  no  answer  in  words,  but  turning 
his  horse  toward  the  south  gate,  entered  the 
policy,  and  I  sent  Nancy  off  to  tell  Kirstie  that 
Mr.  Carmichael  would  dine  with  us,  for  I 
thought  it  no  right  part  of  a  child's  rearing  that 
she  should  hear  herself  discussed. 

As  she  took  her  small  body  around  the  box 
wood,  lifting  it  up  on  the  toes  at  every  step — 
a  way  she  had  when  pleased — "  You've  raised  up 
a  wonderful  child  for  me,  Sandy,"  I  said,  and  I 
told  him  of  the  verses  she  writ  the  day  before. 

"Aye,"  he  answered,   "I  didn't  tell  ye  of 

them,  for  I  wanted  that  ye  should  find  out  about 

her  verses  yourself.    I've  a  book  full  of  them, 

and  she  but  five.    But  after  all's  said  and  done," 

[55] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  V 

he  went  on,  "  'tis  the  heart  of  her  that's  more 
wonderful  than  the  head.  Christmas  a  year 
hack  I  was  walking  out  with  her,  and  some 
shiftless  heggars  got  in  the  path  and  asked  for 
money.  i  In  truth,'  I  answered,  knowing  what 
frauds  they  were,  '  I  haven't  a  penny  in  the 
world ! '  I  thought  the  child  had  let  the  inci 
dent  pass  unnoticed,  hut  that  evening  the  door 
to  my  hedroom  opened  and  Nancy,  in  her  white 
nightgown,  walked  in.  She  came  to  the  writing- 
table  shyly,  and  after  putting  a  large  copper 
penny  on  the  edge  of  the  tahle,  pushed  it  toward 
me  with  her  forefinger. 

" '  You  tan  have  it,'  she  said ;  '  I  tan  dit 
anover.' 

"  There  it  is,  the  copper  penny,"  he  cried, 
with  a  laugh,  though  there  were  tears  in  his 
eyes,  showing  me  the  end  of  his  watch-f oh  from 
which  the  hit  of  money  hung. 

"  The  dear  little  thing  had  thought  I  really 
had  not  a  penny  in  the  world  and  had  brought 
her  only  one  to  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  our 
friendship.  Oh,  Jock  Stair,"  and  the  union  he- 
tween  us  spoke  in  the  words,  "  how  are  you  and 
I  to  raise  up  a  soul  like  this  and  keep  it  un 
spotted  from  the  world? " 
[56] 


CHAP.  V  NANCY   STAIR 

As  I  stated  at  the  beginning  of  my  story,  I 
have  no  intention  of  saying  a  word  of  Nancy's 
charities  or  of  her  verse-making  save  when 
necessary  for  the  clearness  of  my  tale,  but  I 
find  the  time  has  now  come  when  some  mention 
of  the  first  must  be  made.  It  could  be  judged 
from  the  anecdote  already  told,  of  her  bring 
ing  "  her  people "  to  Stair,  that  she  formed 
strong  attachments ;  but  as  time  went  by  I  found 
that  this  affection  extended  to  almost  every 
thing  that  lived.  She  was  a  lawless  little 
body,  going  around  the  grounds  at  her  own 
pleasure,  and  bringing  back  some  living  thing 
at  every  expedition  to  be  cared  for  at  the  house. 
These  findings  included  lame  dogs,  rabbits, 
cats,  and  finally  she  came  into  the  library, 
breathless : 

"  I  got  a  boy  to-day,  Jock,"  she  said,  exactly 
as  I  might  have  stated  I  had  caught  a  fish.  "  A 
boy,"  she  repeated,  every  feature  in  her  face 
alight ;  "  Father  Michel's  got  him." 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  Nancy,"  I  inquired, 
"  what  do  you  intend  to  do  with  him?  " 

"  Keep  him,"  she  answered. 

Going  down  with  her  to  inspect  this  new 
treasure,  I  found  a  lad  eight  or  ten  years  of 
[57] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  V 

age,  very  sickly,  with  a  hump  upon  his  back, 
and  of  a  notably  unprepossessing  appearance, 
carrying  a  fiddle,  and  evidently  forsaken  by 
some  strolling  player.  She  had  set  her  mind 
upon  his  staying,  and  he  stayed ;  but  finding  the 
trouble  her  accumulated  possessions  were  giv 
ing  at  Stair,  she  showed  me  within  the  week  a 
bit  of  her  power  to  get  her  own  way ;  a  thought 
which  afterward  bore  such  large  results  for  the 
whole  of  Scotland. 

The  former  lord,  my  honored  father,  had 
erected  under  some  trees  far  off  by  the  burn 
water  several  small  stone  houses  for  the  ser 
vants  which  my  beautiful  Irish  mother  brought 
with  her  from  her  own  country.  Because  my 
bachelor  ways  had  needed  little  service  these 
dwellings  had  gradually  fallen  into  disuse  and 
disrepair,  the  few  serving  people  I  required 
finding  abundant  lodgment  in  the  attic  cham 
bers.  These  tiny  houses,  built  of  gray  stone, 
with  ivy  growing  around  the  windows,  had 
taken  Nancy's  fancy  from  the  instant  her  eyes 
first  lighted  on  them. 

The  evening  before  her  sixth  birthday,  as 
we  stood  together  watching  the  sun  go  down,  a 
thought  for  the  following  day  came  to  me. 
[58] 


CHAP.  V  NANCY   STAIR 

"  And  what  do  you  want  for  your  birthday, 
Little  Flower? "  I  asked. 

"  The  little  houses,"  she  said,  leaning  her 
head  against  me. 

"What  for?"  I  inquired,  thinking  perhaps 
that  she  believed  them  play  houses. 

"  Dame  Dickenson,  Father  Michel,  Uncle 
Ben — "  she  stopped. 

"  To  live  in?  "  I  inquired. 

"  To  keep,"  she  answered  quietly. 

The  more  I  thought  it  over  the  more  pleased 
I  became  with  the  idea  that  these  devoted  peo 
ple,  who  gave  their  lives  to  Nancy,  should  be 
rewarded.  I  was  perhaps  especially  pleased  at 
the  thought  of  doing  something  for  Father 
Michel,  of  whom  I  would  now  be  speaking. 

He  was  at  this  time  a  young  man,  still  under 
twenty-five,  who  had  come,  none  knew  from  what 
place,  to  live  at  the  Cairn  Mills  with  the  dear 
old  priest  who  married  Marian  and  me.  What 
tragedy  had  been  behind  him  none  knew,  but 
Dickenson  told  me  that  from  the  time  he  first 
saw  the  child  his  heart  went  out  to  her,  and  that 
after  the  meeting  there  was  no  keeping  him 
from  the  old  inn,  where  he  finally  took  up  his 
residence  as  one  of  the  family. 
[59] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  V 

Old  Uncle  Ben,  whose  sea  tales  were  one  of 
Nancy's  chief est  joys,  and  whose  wooden  leg 
was  her  greatest  perplexity,  I  felt  deserved  some 
recognition  of  his  service,  and,  to  shorten  the 
telling,  in  less  than  a  month  these  houses  were 
occupied  as  Nancy  had  desired  they  should  be — 
Father  Michel  being  given  the  large  one,  with 
Nancy's  dwarfed  boy,  Dame  Dickenson  the  next, 
and  Uncle  Ben  becoming  the  proud  occupant 
of  a  third.  It  seemed  a  sort  of  child's  play  to 
me  at  first,  and  Mrs.  Opie's  statement  that  I 
built  these  houses  at  this  period  for  the  work 
on  the  Burnside,  is  entirely  without  f  oundation,. 

Some  credit  has  been  bestowed  upon  me  as 
well  for  the  working  out  of  a  labor  problem 
here,  but  it  is  honor  undeserved,  for  the  thing 
began  in  the  entirely  unintentional  manner 
which  I  have  set  down,  and  the  working  out  of 
it  came  at  a  later  date  through  Nancy's  think-, 
ing  and  the  zeal  and  goodness  of  Father  Michel.* 


*  It  was  about  this  period  that  the  "  Lace  School "  was  regularly 
begun,  which  occurred  by  no  plan  of  mine,  but  in  the  following 
way :  Sandy  had  had  two  young  women  from  the  north  for  house 
service  at  Arran,  and  finding  them  unused  to  labor,  proposed  that 
Dame  Dickenson  should  teach  them  the  Irish  lace-making  which 
she  had  learned  in  her  own  country.  And  in  a  short  time  there 
were  nine  or  ten  young  girls  of  the  neighborhood  under  regular  in 
struction  in  this  industry. 

[60] 


CHAPTER  VI 

NANCY  BEGINS   HEK   STUDY   OF   THE   LAW 

THERE  has  been  some  delay  in  bringing 
Hugh  Pitcairn  into  my  story,  and,  as  I  read 
that  which  I  have  written,  I  seem  to  have  set 
him  down  in  a  scant  and  dry  manner  little  cal 
culated  to  do  justice  to  his  many  virtues.  These 
virtues,  however,  were  of  the  kind  which  made 
him  a  fine  citizen  rather  than  a  jolly  companion 
over  a  bowl  of  brose.  He  was  a  tall  man, 
heavily  built,  with  a  large  face,  thick  bristly 
hair,  and  blue  eyes  set  extraordinarily  far  apart. 
The  bridge  of  his  nose  being  noticeably  low, 
this  peculiarity  gave  the  upper  part  of  his  face 
the  appearance  of  being  very  sparsely  settled. 
It  was  Robert  Burns,  I  remember,  who  made 
this  descriptive  observe  concerning  him.  A 
lowland  body,  but  kin  to  the  Pitcairns  of  the 
north,  he  had  come  to  the  High  School  depend 
ent  for  his  education  upon  the  generosity  of  a 
rich  uncle,  and  from  the  time  he  entered  was 
[61] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

easily  first  in  all  of  his  classes.  Of  an  unbend 
ing  rectitude,  unmerciful  in  his  judgments,  ana 
lytical,  penetrating,  and  accumulative,  he  was 
at  an  early  age  destined  for  two  things — success 
and  unpopularity.  He  left  the  High  School  with 
us,  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  the  law  with 
Maxwell,  of  Dalgleish,  and  rising  rapidly  in  his 
profession  was  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  recog 
nized  as  the  soundest,  most  learned,  and  bitter 
est  tongued  lawyer  in  Auld  Keekie. 

Justice  to  his  mind  was  a  simple  thing;  a 
man  had  either  broken  the  law  or  he  had  not; 
if  he  had,  he  should  be  punished.  "  Extenuat 
ing  circumstances  "  was  a  phrase  used  only  by 
the  sentimental  and  the  guilty.  I  recall,  as  I 
write,  his  telling  me  with  some  pride  and  an 
amused  smile  of  a  certain  occasion,  when  he 
had  wrung  a  verdict  from  a  jury  against  their 
sympathies,  that  the  spectators  had  hissed  him 
on  his  way  out  of  court. 

"  He's  not  a  man  at  all.  He's  only  a  Head," 
Sandy  Carmichael  said  of  him  once,  and  I  find 
enough  truth  in  the  statement  to  make  it  worth 
setting  down. 

His  conceit  of  himself  was  high,  as  is  the 
case  with  many  self-made  men,  but  he  had  a 
[62] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY    STAIR 

fine  code  of  conduct  for  the  direction  of  his  pri 
vate  affairs,  was  aggressively  honest  and  fear 
less,  and  an  earnest  believer  in  God,  himself, 
and  the  Scots  law. 

Like  other  great  men  he  had  his  failings, 
however,  and  he  set  up  to  be  a  judge  of  music 
and  poetry,  for  which  he  had  as  vile  an  ear  as 
could  be  conceived;  and  to  hear  him  read  from 
Kamsay  or  Fergusson  was  an  infliction  not  un 
necessarily  to  be  borne.  One  night,  I  remem 
ber,  in  '86,  Burns  and  I  stopped  at  Pitcairn's 
on  our  way  home  from  Creech's  and  got  him  to 
read  Leith  Races  and  Caller  Oysters,  and  Rab 
afterward  went  out  and  rolled  over  and  over 
in  a  snow-drift,  roaring  with  laughter,  till  some 
of  the  town-guard,  who  chanced  to  be  going  by, 
were  for  arresting  him  on  the  charge  of  drunk 
enness. 

It  may  be  easily  judged  from  this  descrip 
tion  that  my  friend  Sandy  and  he  were  at  op 
posite  poles  from  each  other,  as  I  have  said, 
and  as  time  passed  this  dislike  increased  until 
it  became  the  chiefest  vexation  of  my  life.  If 
I  mentioned  Hugh's  name  to  Sandy,  he  would 
maintain  a  disdainful  silence  or  turn  the  talk 
with  abruptness;  while  if  Sandy's  name  was 
[63] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

spoken  before  Pitcairn,  the  great  lawyer  would 
raise  his  eyebrows,  shrug  his  shoulders,  or  make 
some  biting  criticism  which  rendered  me  resent 
ful  and  highly  uncomfortable  as  well. 

As  soon  as  I  was  firmly  fixed  in  my  old  home 
again,  Pitcairn  began  to  drop  in  on  me,  as  his 
practise  had  been  before  my  marriage,  and  his 
attitude  to  Nancy  was  a  thing  humorous  to  see. 
Hers  to  him  was  not  without  its  droll  side  as 
well,  for  when  he  was  present,  especially  if  he 
talked  of  his  cases,  the  child  would  sit  on  a 
stool,  with  some  live  thing  held  in  her  lap,  lit 
erally  devouring  him  with  her  eyes  as  he  nar 
rated  the  story  of  some  criminal  whom  he  had 
hanged  or  transported.  I  have  seen  her  imitate 
his  gesture  as  he  talked,  and  sigh  with  relief 
when  the  jury  handed  in  its  verdict  and  the 
culprit's  doom  was  finally  settled.  It  was  not 
long,  however,  before  she  evinced  a  strong  dis 
like  to  being  left  alone  with  him,  and  if  I  had 
occasion  to  leave  the  room  where  the  three  of 
us  were  together  she  would  invariably  fol 
low  me. 

In  an  unfortunate  moment,  driving  by  the 
old  court  in  a  pony  chaise,  I  stopped,  knowing 
that  Pitcairn  had  a  case  on,  and  took  Nancy  in 
[64] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY    STAIR 

"  to  see  him  at  his  work."  Every  little  while 
after  that  I  would  find  her  disappeared  from  the 
house,  and  on  going  to  the  court  would  see  her 
midget  pony  fastened  outside,  and  the  little 
chestnut  head  and  big  gray  eyes  looking  over 
the  back  of  the  high  bench  in  front;  for  the 
officers,  who  knew  she  was  my  daughter,  soon 
grew  to  understand  her  ways  and  let  her  in 
without  parley.  I  can  solemnly  affirm  that  I 
thought  this  a  most  unwise  way  for  a  child  to 
spend  her  time,  but  there  was  something  about 
Nancy  herself  which  prevented  my  giving  or 
ders.  I  can  not  say  that  she  ever  disobeyed  me, 
and  yet,  I  knew  then,  as  I  know  now,  that  had 
I  tried  to  stop  her  she  would  have  evaded  me, 
and  as  it  turned  out  in  the  end,  it  was  all  for 
the  best. 

I  who  was  with  her  day  by  day  could  feel 
her  growing  dislike  of  Hugh  Pitcairn,  and  once 
she  came  to  me  after  a  visit  to  the  court,  her 
cheeks  flaming,  her  eyes  dilated,  and  her  body 
literally  shaking  with  emotion. 

"He  cursed  at  Pitcairn  as  they  dragged 
him  out,"  she  said,  and  then  bringing  her  little 
fists  down  on  my  knee,  she  cried  with  apparent 
irrelevancy : 

[65] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

"It's  not  the  way,  Jock!  It's  not  the 
way!" 

Less  than  a  fortnight  after  I  was  sitting  over 
some  accounts  in  the  east  room,  when  Hugh  Pit- 
cairn  entered  unannounced. 

"  Well,  Jock  Stair,"  he  said,  "  that  daughter 
of  yours  lost  me  as  pretty  a  case  to-day  as  I 
ever  had." 

"  Indeed,  Hugh,"  I  returned,  "  I'm  in  no  way 
answerable  for  that." 

"  I  don't  know  ahout  that ! "  he  broke  in. 
"  This  case  was  one  of  a  young  woman  who  had 
taken  a  purse.  She  established  the  fact  that  she 
was  a  widow  with  two  small  children,  one  of 
whom  was  dying  and  needed  medicine.  I 
thought  at  first  that  she  borrowed  one  of  the 
children,  they  frequently  do,  but  it  was  estab 
lished  hers.  I  drew  attention  to  the  anarchy 
which  would  inevitably  follow  if  each  individual 
were  allowed  to  help  himself  to  his  neighbor's 
belongings,  and  the  jury  was  with  me.  As  I 
was  concluding,  that  child  of  yours  slipped  from 
her  place,  climbed  the  steps  on  the  side,  and 
heeding  judges  and  jury  less  than  Daft  Jamie, 
went  straight  toward  the  prisoner,  pulled  her 
self  up  on  a  chair  beside  the  woman,  and  put- 
[66] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY   STAIR 

ting  her  arms  around  the  culprit's  neck,  as 
though  to  defend  her  against  the  devil  himself, 
turned  her  eyes  in  my  direction  and  fairly  glow 
ered  at  me. 

"  The  spectators  cheered,  and  a  woman  in 
the  front  cried,  '  God  bless  the  baby,'  while  the 
judge — Carew  it  was,  a  sentimentalist  and  a 
menace  to  the  bar — dried  the  tears  from  his  eyes 
openly,  and  the  jury  decided  against  me  with 
out  leaving  the  box"  he  thundered,  as  though 
I  were  in  some  way  responsible. 

I  groaned.  Taking  this  for  sympathy,  he 
went  on: 

"  I'm  glad  ye  feel  about  it  as  I  do." 

"  To  be  frank  with  you,  Pitcairn,"  I  an 
swered,  "  I  don't;  and  it's  not  for  your  lost  case 
I  groan,  but  for  what  is  likely  to  come  to  me 
because  of  it." 

Nor  was  I  mistaken.  Just  at  the  gloaming 
time,  while  there  was  still  a  little  of  the  yellow 
hanging  in  the  west,  I  saw  the  figure  of  a 
woman  with  a  baby  in  her  arms  outlined  clear 
against  the  sky  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  by 
her  side  trotted  the  little  creature  who  had  all 
my  heart,  leading  her  home. 

"There,"  said  I  to  Pitcairn,  pointing  to 
6  [67] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

them,  "  that's  what  your  inadequacy  at  the  law 
has  cost  me.  There  are  three  more  people 
whom  Nancy  has  fetched  home  for  me  to  sup 
port." 

"  I  wonder  at  ye  sometimes,  Jock  Stair,"  he 
cried  at  this,  "I  wonder  at  ye! — for  in  many 
ways  ye  seem  an  intelligent  man — that  ye  can 
let  a  small  girl-child  have  her  way  with  you 
as  ye  do." 

The  outer  door  closed  as  he  spoke,  and  I 
heard  the  patter  of  little  feet. 

"  She's  not  being  raised  right.  She'll  be 
a  creature  of  no  breeding.  Ye  should  take 
her " 

At  this  the  door  opened  and  Nancy  came  in. 
At  the  sight  of  Pitcairn  she  stopped  on  her  way 
toward  me,  and  her  black  brows  came  together 
in  an  ecstasy  of  rage.  Putting  her  little  body 
directly  in  front  of  him  she  looked  him  full  in 
the  eye. 

"  Devil ! "  she  said,  and  walked  out  of  the 
room,  leaving  us  standing  staring  at  each  other, 
speechless,  and  I  noted  with  glee  that,  on  one 
occasion  at  least,  I  saw  Hugh  Pitcairn  abashed. 

This  occurrence  in  the  court  did  not  pass  in 
the  town  unnoticed,  for  Bishop  Ames,  of  St. 
[68] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY   STAIE 

Margaret's,  on  the  following  Sunday  preached 
from  the  text:  "And  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them,"  telling  the  story  from  the  pulpit;  while 
the  Sentinel  of  the  next  week  spoke  of  Nancy 
with  flattery  and  tenderness.  The  publicity 
given  to  the  affair  alarmed  me  in  no  small  de 
gree,  and  I  reasoned  with  myself  that  a  child 
who  had  such  fearlessness  and  such  disrespect 
for  established  ways  was  a  problem  which  some 
body  wiser  than  myself  should  have  the  hand 
ling  of. 

There  were  three  other  occurrences  which 
fell  about  this  time  which  brought  this  thought 
still  more  vividly  to  my  mind,  the  first  of  these 
bringing  the  knowledge  that  she  had  no  religion. 
Entering  the  hall  one  morning  I  met  the  little 
creature  coming  from  the  stairway,  dragging  an 
enormous  book  behind  her  as  though  it  were  a 
go-cart.  She  had  put  a  stout  string  through  the 
middle  of  the  volume,  and  with  this  passed 
round  her  waist  was  making  her  way  with  it 
toward  the  library. 

"  Jock,"  she  said,  backing  at  sight  of  me  and 
sitting  down  upon  the  great  volume  as  though 
it  were  a  footstool,  "  did  you  ever  read  a  book 
called  Old  Testament?" 

[69] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

"  Not  so  much  as  I  should,"  I  answered, 
realizing  with  a  strange  jolt  of  mind  that  it  was 
the  Bible  she  was  dragging  after  her. 

"  I  got  it  in  the  attic,"  she  said,  as  she 
climbed  upon  my  knee,  "  and  I  thought  at  first 
it  was  a  joke-book.  And  after  I  thought  it  was 
a  fairy-book;  but  as  I  go  on,  there  seems  more 
to  itr 

And  the  second  of  these  episodes  was  as 
disconcerting : 

The  dwarfed  boy  was  Nancy's  peculiar  care 
among  the  Burnside  people,  and  the  question  as 
to  why  he  was  made  "  crookit,"  as  she  called  it, 
was  one  which  I  had  never  been  able  to  answer 
to  her  satisfaction. 

Coming  in  one  day  with  a  little  bunch  of 
violets  for  me,  she  stopped  before  leaving  the 
room,  and  said,  as  though  telling  me  a  funny 
secret : 

"  Jamie  Henderlin  took  Nancy's  money." 

"What?"  I  cried. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  took  it  out  of  the  little 
bag  when  he  thought  I  was  not  looking." 

"  What  did  you  do  ? "  I  inquired. 

"I?"  she  turned  away  shyly,  "I  made  out 
that  I  didn't  see  him." 

[70] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY   STAIR 

"  But,  Nancy,"  I  said,  "  that  was  not  really 
kind.  As  he  grows  older  he  will  steal." 

"  Take,"  she  interrupted  firmly. 

"  He  will  take  from  other  people." 

"  He  is  a  dwarf,  Jock,"  she  said,  with  a  sweet 
irrelevance,  which  had  its  logic,  however,  in  her 
kind  heart. 

"  That  doesn't  make  it  right." 

"  He  wanted  it  more  than  I  did,"  she  went 
on;  " I  don't  need  it " 

"  That  doesn't  excuse  him,  either." 

"  Perhaps,"  she  said,  "  if  you  and  I,  mine 
Jock,  were  made  as  he  is  we  might  do  something 
worse  than  he  has  done.  People  laugh  at  him! 
He  mayn't  be  right.  I'm  not  saying  that  he  is 
right;  but  I  am  saying  that  I  am  not  going  to 
hurt  his  feelings.  The  Lord  has  done  that 
enough  already." 

And  the  third  one,  never  told  by  Mrs.  Opie, 
and  a  fortunate  thing  it  was  for  us,  had  to  do 
with  her  skill  in  the  use  of  a  pen.  She  was  still 
a  very  little  child,  lying  on  a  rug  by  the  fire, 
reading  out  of  the  Bible,  as  I  sat  at  the  desk 
looking  over  some  accounts  which  would  not 
come  right.  There  was  the  matter  of  a  draft 
for  five  pounds,  with  my  own  name  to  it,  which 


XAXCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VI 

I  had  certainly  no  remembrance  of  ever  having 
signed. 

"  What's  the  matter.  Jock?''  said  Xancy, 
seeing  my  knit  brow. 

"They  won't  come  right  Little  Flower,"  I 
answered. 

She  came  over  to  me  and  looked  at  the 
accounts. 

"  X"ancy  made  one  just  like  Jock's."  she  said. 

"What?"  I  cried,  with  consternation. 

"  Xancy  —  made  —  one  —  just  —  like  — 
Jock's."  she  repeated.  "A  poor  lady  who  was 
very  sick,"  she  explained.  "  was  by  here  one  day 
you  had  gone.  I  made  one  for  her." 

"  Xancy."  I  said,  taking  her  on  my  knee, 
"  do  you  know  that  it  is  a  crime  to  sign  another 
person's  name  without  his  leave!" 

"How  crime?" 

"Well,  it's  the  thing  people  get  locked  in 
jails  for " 

She  laughed  out  loud  and  lay  back  on  my 
arm  at  this. 

"It's  all  mine,  isn't  it?"  she  asked. 

I  had  told  this  so  often  that  I  couldn't  gain 
say  it 

a  Wrong  to  write  Sandy's  name,  not  \crong 
[72] 


CHAP.  VI  NANCY   STAIR 

to  write  Jock's"  she  crooned  in  a  sort  of  song; 
and  this  was  as  far  as  I  got  with  her  concern 
ing  it. 

I  told  Sandy  these  three  tales,  and  he  roared 
with  glee. 

"  Her  morals  are  all  tail  first,"  he  said, 
"though  very  sound!  But  she'll  have  us  in 
the  poor  farm  and  herself  in  jail  if  she  keeps 
this  up." 


173] 


CHAPTER   VII 

I   TAKE  Kurd's  EDUCATION  IN   HAND 

FATHER  MICHEL*  Sandy,  and  Hugh  Pitcairn 
woe  tte  only  ones  who  knew  enough  of  the 
child  to  make  their  advices  on  the  subject  of 
an  education  for  her  of  any  value,  and  it  was 
the  priest  whom  I  consulted  first. 

••  Yy  lord,"  KM  nod,  iftef  fifltenmg  ::  -7 
tale,  "it's  a  peculiar  case,  and  one  which,  I 
openly  state,  is  beyond  me.  In  every  bout  with 
her  I  am  routed  by  a  certain  lawless  sincerity 
of  utterance,  or  by  her  fastening  her  eyes  upon 
me  and  asking,  'Wbyf  or  'Who  says  that?9 
She  is  gentleness  and  sweetness  itself;  but  any 
attempt  which  I  have  ever  made  to  instruct  her 
in  religion  has  been  utterly  without  results. 
Sometimes  she  goes  to  sleep,  other  whiles  she 
laughs  and  questions  me  in  a  way  that  makes 
the  flesh  crawl.  When  I  told  her  of  the  cruci 
fixion  of  our  blessed  Lord,  she  fell  into  such  a 
frenzy  that  it  brought  on  the  aching  head  and 
[74] 


CHAP.  VIE  XAXCY    STAIK 

fever,  which  you  will  remember  caused  your 
lordship  such  alarm.  We  have  the  raising  of 
a  genius  upon  us,  and  by  that  I  mean  one  who 
knows  more,  sees  deeper,  feels  more  keenly 
than  is  given  to  most  or  to  any  except  the  few. 
Miss  Xancy  is  a  fearless  soul,  a  passionate,  lov 
ing,  powerful  nature,  and  my  belief  is  that  the 
only  way  to  control  her  is  to  let  her  develop 
her  own  powers  in  her  own  way.  It  is  a  hard 
question,  a  subtle  question,  my  lord;  but  I  be 
lieve  it  is  the  only  way." 

Sandy  was  in  London  at  the  time,  but  the 
same  day  on  which  I  had  the  talk  with  Father 
Michel  I  sent  for  Hugh  Pitcairn,  asking  him  to 
dine  with  me  and  talk  over  the  Problem  of 
X^ancy. 

"  It's  like  this,  Hugh,"  said  I,  as  we  sat  over 
some  wine  of  his  particular  fancy,  "  God  has 
been  kind  enough  to  send  me  a  wonderful  child, 
and  I  want  to  do  what's  right  by  her.  I  want 
her  to  have  the  reasonable  education  of  a  man 
and  to  keep  her  as  far  as  possible  from  the 
influence  of  the  usual  unthinking  female.  I 
neither  want  her  instructed  in  false  modesty, 
lying,  nor  the  deception  of  the  male  sex.  It  is 
on  the  male  virtues  that  I  want  the  accent 
[75] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VII 

placed;  bravery,  honesty,  self-knowledge,  and 
responsibility  for  her  words  and  conduct;  good 
manly  virtues  that  most  women  know  only  as 
words  of  the  dictionary." 

Hugh  stared  across  at  me,  and  there  was  a 
look  in  his  eyes  of  being  tolerant  toward  crass 
ignorance  as  he  answered: 

"  There  are  whiles  when  you  are  more  hu 
morous  than  others,  Jock  Stair.  This  is  your 
most  fanciful  time  yet.  There's  no  such  thing 
possible,  and  ye  can  just  rest  by  that !  Ye  can't 
make  a  woman  into  a  man  by  any  method  of 
rearing,  for  there  are  six  thousand  years  of  an 
cestry  to  overcome.  That's  somewhat,  and  with 
the  female  physiology  and  the  Lord  himself 
against  you,  I'm  thinking  it  wise  for  you  to 
have  your  daughter  reared  like  other  women 
and  to  fulfil  woman's  great  end." 

"  And  what's  that?  "  I  asked. 

"To  marry  and  bring  children  into  the 
world,"  he  returned,  as  certainly  as  he  would 
have  stated  the  time  of  day. 

"When  all's  said  and  done  and  theorized 

over  concerning  the  female  sex,"  he  went  on, 

"  ye  just  find  yourself  back  at  that.     Ye  can't 

educate  a  woman  as  ye  can  a  man ;  she's  not  got 

[76] 


CHAP.  VII  NANCY   STAIR 

the  same  faculties  to  take  in  the  information 
that  ye  offer  her.  Why,"  he  cried,  "  ye  can't 
give  her  any  sense  of  abstract  right  or  wrong. 
In  order  to  protect  her  young  she  has  inherited 
certain  keen  faculties  and  instincts  which  we 
poor  male  creatures  are  without;  but  from  the 
minute  she  becomes  a  wife  or  mother  she  ceases 
in  some  degree  to  have  a  conscience.  No,"  he 
finished,  "  when  a  woman's  emotions  are  stirred 
you  can't  believe  a  word  she  says." 

"Ye've  seen  for  yourself  that  Nancy's  dif 
ferent  from  the  girl  children  ye've  known/'  I 
said,  with  some  remonstrance  in  my  voice. 

"  She  has  power,  true.  And  magnetism, 
true.  And  great  beauty,"  he  answered,  count 
ing  these  on  his  fingers  as  though  they  were 
points  in  law ;  "  but  give  her  a  man's  education, 
and  what  have  ye  done?  Simply  made  a  dan 
gerous  contrivance  of  her  to  get  her  own  way. 
I  tell  ye,  Jock,"  he  said  in  conclusion,  "  ye  can't 
civilize  women.  They  are  not  intended  to  be 
civilized." 

The  longer  I  thought  this  talk  over,  the  more 

firmly  I  became  fixed  in  the  belief  that  Hugh 

knew  nothing  concerning  the  matter,  and  that 

my  own  ideas  on  the  subject  were  the  best,  and 

[77] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VII 

in  less  than  a  week  I  had  my  own  old  school- 
books  down,  and  was  casting  around  for  a  tutor 
for  Nancy,  firm  in  my  intention  of  "  bringing 
her  up  a  perfect  gentleman,"  as  Hugh  derisively 
stated.  I  fixed  on  Latin  for  her,  and  sound 
mathematics,  and  later  Greek  and  Logic,  and 
when  I  showed  this  list  of  studies  to  Pitcairn, 
I  recall  that  he  looked  at  me,  with  the  usual  pity 
in  his  glance,  and  asked  dryly : 

"Why  not  tiger  shooting  and  the  high- 
jump!" 

Sandy  was  from  home  at  this  time,  having 
been  called  to  a  dying  wife,  poor  fellow,  or  I 
should  have  taken  advice  with  him  concerning 
a  certain  old  teacher  of  his  boy  Danvers,  for 
whom  I  had  a  great  liking.  While  awaiting  his 
return  I  took  the  Little  Flower  into  my  con 
fidence,  and  found  her  delighted  that  she  was 
to  be  "teached."  There  was  one  point  upon 
which  she  was  firm,  however,  which  was  that 
none  but  Father  Michel  should  be  her  instruc 
tor,  and  the  good  man,  with  many  a  dubious 
shake  of  his  head,  entered  upon  his  work  the 
following  week. 

Often  after  this  time  I  would  come  upon  them 
in  the  small  writing-room  where  the  studies  were 
[78] 


CHAP.  VII  NANCY    STAIR 

conducted,  to  find  the  little  one  standing  by  the 
father's  knee,  as  he  held  the  book;  for  her,  or 
sitting  in  his  lap  looking  up  at  him  with  a  funny 
earnestness,  as  though  they  were  playing  to 
gether,  going  over 

rego 

regere 

rexi 

rectus 


or  some  such  work,  and  amazing  us  both  by  her 
capacities. 

On  her  ninth  birthday  Hugh  gave  her  the 
ponderous  tome  from  which  so  much  of  Mrs. 
Opie's  facts  have  been  obtained,  and  into  this 
volume  she  put  her  verses  and  her  thoughts  just 
as  they  came  into  her  curly  head,  standing  upon 
a  stool  to  make  her  high  enough  to  reach  the 
writing-table  with  comfort.  There  was  an  un 
spoken  understanding  between  us  that  I  was  at 
liberty  to  read  this  book,  but  never  in  her  pres 
ence.  One  night  after  she  had  spent  the  after 
noon  at  work  upon  it,  I  drew  it  toward  me,  to 
find  a  new  set  of  verses  beginning : 

The  heifer  by  the  milking  pail, 
Whose  neck-cloth  is  so  white,  etc. 

[79] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VII 

and  underneath  the  following,  in  which  the  in 
fluence  of  the  Good  Book  was  surely  visible: 

"MY   COMANDMENCE! 

1.  I  must  love  Jock  Stair  first  of  all  created  things,  for  he 

was  my  mother's  friend  and  mine. 

2.  Since  the  Lord  has  cast  the  poor  from  him  I  must  do 

what  I  can  for  them. 

3.  I  must  not  be  afraid  of  any  livving  thing,  for  no  gentle 

man  can  show  forth  fear. 

4.  I  must  not  wish  Huey  Macrath  from  Stair,  tho'  he  snuf 

fles  and  his  ears  are  large,  for  he  was  here  before  I 
was  and  is  very  ritechus. 

5.  I  must  not  swear,  tho'  Sandy  does,  and  to  say  dam 

is  not  godly,  for  a  girl.  ... 

More  to  morrow,  ^jj. 

L.  F.  S."      I 

I  was  prouder  of  these  than  I  have  words 
to  tell,  seeing  that  already  she  was  beginning 
to  consider  conduct.  And  an  event  which  fol 
lowed  soon  after  made  me  plume  myself  still 
further.  I  had  taught  her  to  play  chess,  and 
Danvers  Carmichael  being  home  from  his  Eng 
lish  school,  Sandy  and  I  made  a  merry  wager 
of  a  game  for  a  guinea  a  side,  each  of  us  back 
ing  the  talent  of  our  own  offspring.  Nancy, 
who  was  about  half  Danvers'  height,  drew  the 
whites,  and  led  off  by  the  good  conservative 
opening  of  the  king's  knight,  the  boy  replying 
[80] 


CHAP.  VII  NANCY    STAIR 

well  and  putting  the  pieces  out  after  the  usual 
fashion.  Nancy  unexpectedly  played  her  queen. 
"  Check,"  she  said.  Band  interposed  a  pawn. 
Nancy  moved  a  knight.  "  Check,"  she  said 
again.  Dand  was  forced  to  move  his  king,  and 
in  three  moves  I  could  see  the  game  was  hers. 
Suddenly  she  retreated  and  began  a  process 
which  never  in  my  whole  experience  with  her 
had  I  seen  duplicated.  She  trifled  ineffectually 
with  her  men,  moving  them  hither  and  thither 
with  no  purpose  or  aim ;  and,  to  crown  all,  after 
one  of  these  fruitless  moves,  the  boy  cried, 
"Mate,"  placing  his  queen  triumphantly  from 
one  side  of  the  board  to  the  other.  Nancy's  eyes 
shone  with  pleasure. 

"  You  beat  me,"  she  cried.  "  Sandy  won 
the  guinea,  Jock." 

I  can  not  recall  when  a  small  thing  annoyed 
me  as  much  as  this  one  did,  and  the  next  morn 
ing,  finding  the  Little  Flower  making  verses  on 
the  west  wall,  I  sat  down  to  get  some  explana 
tion  from  her. 

"Nancy,"  I  began,  "why  did  you  play  so 
badly  at  chess  last  night? " 

The  shy  look  with  which  I  was  familiar  came 
into  her  face. 

[81] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VII 

"  He  can't  play  chess,  Jock,"  she  said. 

"  I  know  it,"  I  cried ;  "  I  saw  that ;  but  why 
did  you  disgrace  your  father,  young  woman, 
answer  me  that? " 

"  Oh,"  she  answered,  with  great  earnestness, 
"do  you  no  see?  He's  a  man-child,  and  his 
father  was  looking  on;  and  it  would  have  been 
a  fair  disgrace  for  him  to  be  beaten  at  the  game 
by  me,  who  am  only  a  girl,  and  younger.  I 
couldn't  do  it,  Jock,"  she  cried,  and  her  cheeks 
flushed  with  a  glorious  pink  color.  "  I  couldn't 
do  it.  No  gentleman  could !  " 

I  glowed  with  pride  at  the  sight  of  her,  my 
hopes  rose  high,  and  I  told  the  story,  together 
with  her  "  Comandmence,"  to  Hugh  Pitcairn 
for  his  admiration  and  approval. 

He  was  as  unmoved,  however,  at  the  end  of 
my  narration  as  at  the  beginning  of  it. 

"  She's  no  a  woman  yet ;  she's  just  a  wee 
bit  bairn ;  but  as  soon  as  she  begins  to  sigh 
for  joes  and  bawbees  she'll  be  just  like  the  rest. 
They're  all  of  them  elemental  things,"  he  said 
with  conviction,  "and  ye  can't  change  their 
natures  any  more  than  ye  can  stop  fire  from 
burning." 

Later  he  began  to  alter  his  opinion  of  her, 
[831 


CHAP.  VII  NANCY   STAIR 

however,  and  it  fell,  I  think,  largely  through  his 
own  vanity.  I  have  told  of  the  scene  in  the 
court  which  resulted  in  Jeanie  Henderlin  and 
her  two  children  coming  to  be  Burn-folk,  and 
from  that  time  Nancy  would  turn  back  every 
little  while  to  her  interest  in  the  law.  There 
were  some  compilations  of  celebrated  cases 
among  my  books,  and  for  a  while  her  talk  ran 
of  the  trials  for  murder  and  poisoning  and  the 
scuttling  of  ships,  until  I  wondered  where  the 
thing  would  lead.  Part  of  these  accounts  were 
briefed;  others  contained  the  evidence  entire, 
indictments,  questions  and  answers,  the  judges' 
instructions,  and  the  verdict  rendered,  all  with 
much  legal  verbiage  and  twisting. 

One  night,  in  her  twelfth  year,  she  asked 
Hugh  Pitcairn  some  questions  concerning  a 
poison  case,  which  happened  to  be  one  he  had 
studied  with  interest  himself,  and  he  denounced 
the  verdict  as  one  unlawful  and  obtained  by 
sentiment  rather  than  from  the  evidence  itself, 
promising  to  send  another  book  to  her  contain 
ing  his  own  view  of  the  matter.  Here  was  a 
ground  in  which  a  friendship  with  Hugh  could 
take  firm  root,  and  from  that  time  on  there  were 
heavy  volumes  coming  to  Nancy  from  the  great 
7  [  83  1 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VII 

barrister  constantly,  and  to  hear  her  quizzed  by 
him  concerning  the  law  on  certain  points  was 
one  of  the  most  humorous  bits  of  my  life.  I 
never  rightly  understood  this  trend  of  Nancy's 
mind.  In  her  talks  with  me  I  found  it  was 
never  to  discover  the  naked  law  on  a  point,  but 
how  punishment  might  be  evaded,  that  inter 
ested  her.  "  If  he'd  said  this,"  or  "  had  he  left 
that  unsaid,"  or  "  if  the  defense  had  proven," 
was  the  burden  of  her  remarks,  and  I  thought 
at  times  that  if  Hugh  saw  the  thing  as  I  did  he 
would  find  at  bottom  of  all  her  lawing  only  a 
woman's  desire  to  discover  how  people  could  be 
got  out  of  trouble,  whether  deserving  punish 
ment  or  not. 

In  her  fifteenth  year,  when  I  was  obliged  to 
go  to  London  concerning  the  Forfeited  Estates, 
I  had  her  with  me;  but  even  then  the  lawing 
between  Pitcairn  and  herself  did  not  cease,  for 
packets  passed  between  them  constantly,  and 
soon  after  our  return,  Nancy's  being  eighteen 
at  the  time,  I  found  that  she  had  wrought  a 
change  in  him,  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  us. 

"  Jock  Stair,"  he  said  to  me  one  night,  as 
though  addressing  a  jury,  "  I  told  you  once  that 
it  was  impossible  to  civilize  a  woman,  that  all 
[84] 


CHAP.  VII  NANCY    STAIE 

education  just  went  over  their  heads  and  af 
fected  their  natures  none  at  all;  that  it  was 
heyond  them  to  conceive  an  abstract  right  or 
wrong;  that  I  had  never  seen  one  who  had  a 
jot  of  public  spirit.  I  feel  a  sense  of  duty  in 
telling  you  I've  changed.  I  have  seen  one. 
It's  your  daughter,  Nancy  Stair ! " 


[85] 


CHAPTER  VIH 

THE   DAFT  DAYS 

WE  came  back  to  Scotland  in  July,  1786, 
and  one  day,  late  in  the  month,  Nancy  came  in 
to  tell  me  that  she  intended  having  a  birthday 
party  that  same  evening. 

"Whose!"  said  I. 

"  Mine,"  she  answered. 

"  It's  all  very  well,  but  your  birthday  is  not 
in  July " 

"  I  never  fancied  March  to  be  born  in,"  she 
replied  imperturbably,  "  and  Pve  changed  it." 

"  And  who  are  you  going  to  bid  to  the  feast 
of  your  adopted  birthday?  " 

"  You,"  she  said,  "  and  Sandy,  and  Jamie 
Henderlin,  for  he's  back  from  Germany,  and  I 
want  to  hear  him  play."  * 

It  is  altogether  hopeless  to  set  in  cold  words 

*  After  Jamie  Henderlin  became  famous  for  his  yiolin  playing  it 
was  noised  abroad  that  I  alone  was  his  patron.  But  the  truth  of 
the  matter  is  that  Sandy  shared  with  me  the  expense  of  hii  German 
studies. 

[86] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

the  charm  of  her  as  she  stood  before  me  that 
morning  in  her  white  frock,  her.  hair  in  a 
bunch  of  curls  on  top  of  her  head  and  some 
posies  in  her  hand.  I  have  seen  many  pretty 
women  in  my  time,  some  few  handsome  ones, 
but  Nancy  Stair  is  the  only  one  I  ever  saw  who 
deserved  to  be  described  as  beautiful.  The 
fashion-prints  of  the  day  were  full  of  her,  and 
I  have  one  account  before  me,  printed  at  the 
very  time  of  which  I  write,  1786: 

"  Miss  Stair,"  it  reads,  "  is  just  back  from 
London,  where  for  two  years  she  has  studied 
her  voice  with  Trebillini. 

"  Her  beauty  is  bewildering ;  her  gowns  the 
acme  of  elegance  and  feminine  grace;  her  wit, 
her  eyes,  her  lips,  the  toast  of  the  town.  Her 
songs,  a  second  printing  of  which  is  being 
clamored  for,  are  being  read  over  the  Three 
Kingdoms,  with  a  letter  from  his  Royal  Maj 
esty,  George  III,  on  the  fly-leaf  commending 
them.  When  it  is  known  that  she  is  to  attend 
service  at  St.  Giles  the  clubs  are  emptied  and 
half  the  beaux  of  the  town  may  be  found  on 
their  knees  where  they  can  have  a  view  of  her. 
The  greatest  statesmen  and  lawyers  of  the  day 
are  her  intimate  friends,  and  the  crowds  follow 
[87] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VHI 

her  in  admiration  when  she  drives  through  the 
streets." 

A  good  picture,  but  scant,  for  there  is  not 
a  word  in  it  of  her  heart,  the  kindest  and  bravest 
that  ever  beat  in  woman's  breast,  nor  her  great 
love  and  tenderness  to  all  created  things. 

On  the  afternoon  of  this  dinner  I  fixed  my 
mind  definitely  upon  a  matter  upon  which  I  had 
been  pondering  for  some  time.  Coming  in  from 
the  bank  about  five,  I  called  Nancy  to  me,  and 
handed  her  the  box  I  carried. 

"Is  it  a  present  for  me?"  she  asked,  her 
face  aglow. 

"  A  present  for  you,  Little  Flower,  from  the 
proudest  father  in  the  world." 

As  I  spoke  she  opened  the  casket  and  her 
eyes  fell  on  the  gems  of  which  I  have  already 
written — the  ornaments  of  the  ladies  of  Stair 
for  hundreds  of  years  gone  by — but  for  none, 
save  one,  so  fair  as  she.  I  would  have  sold 
Stair  itself,  if  need  be,  to  give  her  such  joy. 
The  emerald  necklace,  which  had  been  a  year 
in  the  making,  a  brooch  of  the  same  stones, 
with  diamonds  glittering  in  flower  clusters,  I 
found,  were  the  ones  she  liked  the  best,  and  she 
brought  a  mirror  to  sit  beside  me  as  she  tried 
[88] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY   STAIR 

tliem  all,  one  by  one,  upon  her  hair,  her  neck, 
and  arms,  demanding  that  Dame  Dickenson  and 
Huey  be  brought  to  look  at  her. 

And  a  curious  thing  fell,  that,  as  she  was 
engaged  with  the  jewels,  a  note  was  brought 
from  Mr.  Pitcairn,  which  she  read  without  in 
terest,  saying  after; 

"  Does  he  think  I  care  anything  about  *  Lori- 
mer  vs.  The  Crown  '  with  a  necklace  like  this  1 " 
and  I  fell  to  wondering,  with  some  dismay,  what 
Hugh  would  think  concerning  her  masculine 
mind  if  he  had  heard  the  speech. 

We  were  awaiting  a  summons  to  the  meal 
that  evening  when  Nancy  entered;  a  new 
Nancy,  and  one  so  wondrous  to  behold  that 
Sandy  and  I  started  at  the  sight  of  her.  She 
wore  a  gown  of  yellow  crepe  embroidered  in 
gold,  low  and  sleeveless,  with  a  fold  in  the  back, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  ladies  of  Watteau, 
and  a  long  train  falling  far  behind.  Her  hair 
was  gathered  high  and  dressed  with  jewels 
which  sparkled  as  well  upon  her  throat  and 
hands.  The  thing  that  marked  her  most,  an 
alluring  touchableness,  was  doubly  present  as 
she  came  toward  us,  laughing,  with  a  profound 
courtesy. 

[89] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

"My  Lord  Stair  and  Mr.  Carmichael,  you 
who  have  had  the  raising  of  me,  how  do  you 
like  the  work  of  your  hands? " 

"  Ye  can  not  throw  us  off  our  guard  by  braw 
clothes,  Lady,"  Sandy  responded,  with  a  laugh, 
"  for  we  know  you  only  too  well,  and  to  our 
distress  of  mind  and  pocket.  Ye're  a  spoiled 
bit,  in  spite  of^the  severe  discipline  your  father 
and  I  have  reared  ye  by.  Here's  a  thing  I  got 
from  a  peddler-body  for  ye,"  he  ended. 

She  opened  the  morocco  case  which  he 
handed  her,  to  find  a  necklet  of  pearls  with  dia 
monds  clasping  them,  and  the  tears  came  into 
her  eyes  as  she  kissed  him  for  the  gift. 

"  I  can  not  thank  ye  enough ! — never,  in  all 
my  life — for  all  ye've  done  for  me,  Sandy.  I 
love  you,"  she  says,  "and  well  you  know  it; 
and  with  that  we'll  go  to  dinner.  I  go  with 
Jamie,"  she  added,  slipping  her  arm  through 
his,  "  for  ye  must  learn  that  genius  ever  goes 
before  wealth  and  titles,"  and  with  a  laugh  she 
and  Jamie  Henderlin  went  out  before  us. 

After  dinner  we  sat  outside  for  a  while, 

Sandy  and  I  smoking,   as   Nancy  and  Jamie 

talked  of  the  outer  world  and  the  celebrities  of 

London  and  Paris.    The  lamps  from  the  little 

[90] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY   STAIE 

settlement  on  the  burn  twinkled  through  the 
trees,  while  farther  off  the  lights  from  the  town 
of  Edinburgh  shone  soft  and  silvery  beneath 
the  glimmering  moon.  We  could  hear  the  bleat 
ing  of  the  sheep  and  the  lowing  of  the  cows  in 
the  long  lane  down  by  the  Holm  and  the  bells 
of  the  old  Tron  deaving  our  ears  by  striking 
the  hour  of  eight.  J* 

There  is  little  use,  with  Jamie  playing  to 
the  greatest  people  of  the  world  at  the  moment 
of  my  writing,  for  me  to  tell  the  surprise  and 
delight  we  had  in  his  music;  or  the  new  joy 
that  Sandy  felt  in  Nancy's  singing,  it  being  the 
first  time  he  had  heard  her  voice  for  over  two 
years. 

"  Do  you  want  to  hear  some  of  my  own 
verses?  "  she  asked  him  at  length.  "  Mr.  Thom 
son  has  been  kind  enough  to  set  some  of  them 
to  music."  And  then  she  sang,  for  the  first  time 
to  my  hearing,  those  two  songs  of  hers  which 
were  afterward'  whistled,  sung,  hummed,  or 
shouted  by  every  one  in  Scotland,  from  the 
judge  on  the  bench  to  the  caddie  on  the  streets : 

Soutar  Sandy, 

Wed  wi'  Mandy 

On  a  Monday  morning, 

[91] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

and  the  set  of  three  double  verses,  since  pub 
lished  in  the  Glasgow  Sentinel,  "  The  Maid  wi' 
the  Wistfu'  Eye,"  *  which,  as  I  hope  for  Heaven, 
Rab  Burns  told  me  one  night  at  Creech's  he 
envied  her  for  having  written. 

Suddenly,  as  she  was  looking  over  the  music, 
she  began  to  hum,  and  Dame  Dickenson  and 
I  exchanged  a  look  of  strange  remembrance, 
as,  with  no  accompaniment  whatever,  and  as 
though  the  thought  had  just  seized  her,  she 
poured  forth  her  soul  and  her  voice  together 
in  that  old  gipsy  tune — Marian's  song,  as  I 
have  always  called  it: 

"  Love  that  is  life 
Love  that  is  death, 
Love  that  is  mine — " 

changed  at  the  last  into: 

*'  Love  that  is  wrong, 
Love  that  is  strong, 
Love  that  is  death — " 

and  as  we  listened,  taken  out  of  ourselves  by 
her  beauty  and  the  tragedy  of  her  voice,  a  fig 
ure  came  from  the  gloom  into  the  light  of  the 
doorway,  and  a  gay  voice  cried: 

*  Poems  by  Nancy  Stair,  Pailey  Edition,  pages  44,  67 

[92] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

"  Shall  I  be  arrested  for  trespass,  Lord 
Stair? "  and  to  our  amazement  Danvers  Car- 
michael  stood  before  us. 

I  had  never  seen  the  lad  since  the  day  it  was 
determined  to  make  an  Oxford  man  of  him,  in 
stead  of  following  out  his  father's  wishes  and 
fetching  him  home  to  our  own  University,  and 
the  surprise  I  felt  at  sight  of  him,  a  grown  man 
and  a  monstrous  fine  one,  gave  me  something 
of  a  jolt  in  my  mind  at  the  rapid  passing  of 
the  years. 

He  was  tall  and  handsome,  with  bright, 
brave  ways,  a  distinguished  carriage,  and  a  de 
lightful  speaking  voice.  His  face  was  clean 
shaven,  showing  a  chin  heavy  but  with  fine 
lines,  and  lips  which  curved  back  complacently 
over  teeth  of  singular  whiteness.  His  mouth 
denoted  pride  as  well  as  obstinacy,  which,  taken 
with  the  brooding  look  in  the  eye,  gave  me  the 
impression  of  a  nature  both  jealous  and  pas 
sionate.  One  of  his  greatest  charms,  and  I  felt 
it  on  the  instant  of  our  meeting,  was  a  gay  but 
unassertive  manner,  possible  only  to  those  who 
have  had  a  secured  position  from  birth.  I 
noted  as  well  a  fine  sense  in  his  relation  to 
others,  and  believe  that  if  he  had  come  a-beg- 
[93] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

ging  we  would  have  known  him  to  be  gently 
born.  He  wore  high  boots,  a  broad  hat,  and  a 
handsome  riding  suit  of  light  cloth,  with  a  cloak 
hanging  from  one  shoulder.  He  carried  him 
self  with  jauntiness  and  surety;  gave  one's 
hand  a  hearty  grip,  and,  to  sum  it  all  up,  was 
one  of  the  finest  men  I  have  ever  seen,  and  a 
son  of  whom  even  Sandy  Carmichael  had  a 
right  to  be  proud,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  man  of  fashion  and  something  of  a  dandy. 
He  had  as  well  a  certain  romantic  appearance 
and  a  glance  which  made  young  girls  drop  their 
eyes  before  him  and  set  old  ladies  to  talking  of 
their  first  loves. 

"When  Dand  Carmichael  goes  up  High 
Street  I  never  saw  a  woman  looking  down  it," 
Bob  Blake  said  of  him  once,  which  sums  it  all 
up  very  well. 

Upon  being  asked  by  his  father  as  to  the 
suddenness  of  his  appearance  among  us,  he 
said  with  a  laugh : 

"I  came  with  some  men  to  Leith,  and  the 
Leith  fly  set  me  down  at  the  door  of  The  Star 
and  Garter  by  the  Tron  church  about  an  hour 
ago.  I  asked  mine  host  of  the  inn  if  I  could 
get  a  horse  from  him  to  ride  to  Arran  House; 
[94] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

upon  which  he  told  me  that  there  would  be  no 
use  in  my  going  to  Arran  as  Mr.,  Carmichael 
was  from  home,  being  bid  to  dinner  at  Lord 
Stair's;  that  it  was  the  eighteenth  birthday  of 
Mistress  Nancy  Stair,  and  that  Jamie  Hender- 
lin  had  come  from  Germany  with  his  violin  the 
week  before  and  was  to  play  at  Stair  House 
after  the  dinner;  that  the  Lord  Stair,  who  was 
a  fond  father,  had  but  this  afternoon  given  the 
family  jewels  to  Mistress  Nancy,  and  that  one 
ruby  alone  would  buy  the  inn;  that  Mr.  Car 
michael  had  brought  a  present  for  her  of  a 
pearl  necklace  with  diamonds  in  it  of  great 
value;  that  Mistress  Nancy  Stair,  who  was  the 
handsomest  girl  in  three  kingdoms,  had  a  yel 
low  gown,  a  great  deal  of  which  lay  on  the  floor, 
the  stuff  of  which  he  understood  had  come  from 
France ;  that  Dame  Dickenson  had  made  a  birth 
day  cake,  and  there  was  a  salmon  for  the  din 
ner  with  egg  sauce,  and  that  eggs  were  uncom 
mon  high  and  the  tax  on  whisky  a  thing  not  to 
be  borne.  There  were  some  other  trifling  de 
tails  he  mentioned,"  he  said  with  a  wave  of  his 
hand  and  a  laugh,  "  which  have  unfortunately 
escaped  my  memory." 

There  was  much  real  humor  in  his  relation 
[95] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  VIIJ 

of  the  inn  gossip,  and  the  brightness  of  his 
presence  caused  a  gayer  air  to  our  small  fes 
tivity.  Our  talk  brought  Nancy  to  the  door, 
where  she  stood  in  a  shaft  of  light  looking  down 
at  us. 

"What  are  you  laughing  about? "  she  cried. 

At  the  sound  of  her  voice  Danvers  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  went  toward  her  with  out 
stretched  hand,  but  at  the  sight  of  her  beauty  or 
her  jewels,  I  know  not  which,  he  changed  his 
mind  and  made  a  sweeping  bow  instead. 

"  And  this,"  he  said,  "  is  the  Miss  Nancy  of 
whom  I  have  heard  so  much— 

"  Sandy's  apt  to  mention  me,"  she  answered 
demurely. 

"  He  never  did  you  justice,"  he  responded, 
with  a  smile  toward  his  father.  "In  all  but 
this  he's  the  best  parent  in  the  world,  but  he's 
fallen  short  in  the  matter  of  letting  me  know 
about  you." 

"  If  ye'd  stayed  in  ye're  own  country  ye'd 
have  known,"  retorted  Sandy,  from  behind  his 
pipe. 

"I  have  been  away  too  long,"  Dand  an 
swered  him,  but  the  look  was  at  Nancy. 

"  Do  you  stay  now  ?  "  she  asked. 
[961 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

"  I  had  intended  to  go  back  at  the  end  of 
the  week,  but  I  have  changed  my  mind.  With 
my  father's  leave,  I'll  spend  the  summer— 

"  It  does  not  take  you  long  to  change  your 
mind,"  Nancy  returned  with  a  smile. 

"  No,"  he  said,  and  here  he  leaned  forward, 
took  her  hand  and  kissed  it.  "  No !  It  took  me 
just  one  second." 

I  knew  that  she  was  not  to  be  moved  by  any 
admiration  which  happened  to  come  by.  She 
paid  a  gracious  attention  to  Danvers  Car- 
michael,  it  is  true,  insisting,  though  he  stoutly 
affirmed  to  the  contrary,  that  she  knew  him  to 
be  hungry,  that  one  could  not  dine  at  The  Star 
and  Garter,  ordering  a  small  table  with  some 
cold  fowl  and  a  bottle  of  wine  for  him,  all 
as  though  it  were  the  thing  nearest  her  heart. 
I,  who  knew  her,  understood  that  if  it  had  been 
a  tramp  body  from  the  lowlands  who  had  come 
upon  us  she  would  have  given  the  same  thought 
to  him  and  forgotten  him  by  morning;  but  to 
a  man,  London  bred  and  unaware  as  yet  with 
whom  his  dealings  lay,  her  solicitude  for  him 
might  readily  be  interpreted  as  having  some 
thing  more  purely  personal  in  its  nature. 

And  this  day  was  to  be  marked  by  another 
[97] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

event  than  the  home-coming  of  Danvers;  an 
event  which,  if  it  had  occurred  six  weeks  later, 
might  have  changed  the  destiny  of  many  lives, 
and  given  England  another  Premier  than  Will 
iam  Pitt.  Before  we  parted  for  the  night,  Dan 
vers  took  from  his  pocket  a  book,  which  he 
handed  to  Nancy  with  a  bow. 

"  It's  not  family  jewels ;  nor  yet  a  trifling 
necklace  of  pearls;  nor  can  I  honestly  affirm  it 
was  intended  as  a  gift,  but  if  you  will  accept 
it  from  me  as  a  birthday  token  it  will  make  me 
very  glad,"  and  he  handed  the  volume  to  her. 

"Poetry,"  she  said  with  a  pleased  smile, 
"  and  in  the  Scot.  Robert  Burns !  Is  he  a  new 
man? " 

"  He's  a  plowman  in  Ayr,  somewhere,  and 
I  have  it  that  his  verses  are  something  fine. 
I've  not  read  them  myself,  and  the  thought 
comes  to  me  a  little  late  that  they  may  not  be 
the  fittest  reading  for  a  young  lady,  but  your 
father  will  judge  of  it  for  you." 

Sandy  and  I  laughed  aloud  at  this. 

"  The  reason  these  ill-natured  gentlemen 
laughed  at  you  as  they  did  was  because  of  the 
lax  way  they  have  brought  me  up,"  Nancy  ex 
plained.  "  They've  let  me  '  gang  my  am  gate ' 
[981 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

since  I  was  five.  I've  had  no  right  raising," 
she  said,  and  the  very  sweetness  of  her  as  she 
said  it  would  have  made  any  man  keen  for  the 
rearing  which  produced  her.  "  So,  considering 
my  superior  knowledge  of  evil,  I'll  look  the 
book  over  myself  and  see  if  it  is  the  kind  of 
reading  I  should  like  to  put  in  the  hands  of 
Sandy  and  Jock." 

Danvers  Carmichael's  eyes  glowed  with  hu 
mor  as  he  joined  in  the  laugh  with  us. 

"  Under  your  careful  bringing  up  they 
should  be  fine  fellows,  these  fathers  of  ours," 
he  laughed. 

"  I've  done  the  best  I  could  by  them,"  Nancy 
answered  demurely;  "but  on  the  whole,  Mr. 
Carmichael,  I  think  I  have  succeeded  better 
with  Jamie  Henderlin." 

When  Nancy  withdrew,  Danvers  went  with 
her  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  holding  her  in  talk 
for  a  few  minutes,  with  looks  of  passionate  ap 
proval  in  his  eyes. 

Before  we  went  to  our  rooms,  for  I  insisted 
that  they  should  remain  all  night  at  Stair,  the 
talk  turned  upon  marriage  in  some  way,  and 
Sandy  rallied  his  son  upon  his  bachelorhood. 

"  Twenty-four  years  old,"  he  said,  "  and  a 
8  [99] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

bachelor  still!  Why,  I  was  a  father  at  that 
time.  Never  mind,"  he  continued,  "  never  mind, 
my  lad.  Your  time  is  coming !  " 

"  In  truth,  I  think  it  has  come,"  Danvers 
returned,  simply,  and  the  glance  that  went  with 
the  words  was  not  toward  his  father,  but  to 
ward  me. 

I  was  lying  in  my  bed  with  eyes  staring  wide 
at  the  ceiling,  recalling  Nancy's  real  birthday 
more  than  eighteen  years  gone  by;  thinking  of 
Marian;  wondering  if  she  knew  the  beauty  of 
the  child  we  had;  demanding  from  the  Great 
Father  of  all  that  she  should  know — should  re 
member  Nancy  and  me;  that  she,  the  mother 
and  wife,  might,  in  some  way  unknown  to  us, 
still  be  a  part  of  our  earthly  living;  recalling 
Danvers  with  approval,  dreaming  perhaps  that 
Nancy  and  he,  at  no  far  date,  might  marry  and 
so  cement  a  friendship  between  two  middle- 
aged  gentlemen  who  had  foregathered  with 
each  other  many  years  before,  when  I  heard  a 
light  tap  at  my  door. 

"Who  is  it?"  I  cried. 

"  It's  Nancy,"  answered  the  voice.  "  May  I 
come  in?  " 

She  pushed  the  door  ajar  and  entered  in  a 
[100] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIK 

long  white  dressing-gown,  carrying" m. one  hand 
a  branch  of  candles  and  in  the/oihe?  a  boot, 
with  her  finger  marking  the  place. 

It  is  exceedingly  hard  for  me  to  describe  the 
beauty  of  her,  the  uplifted  look  on  her  face  and 
the  shine  of  her  eye,  for  this  beauty  seemed 
kindled  by  a  fire  from  within,  and  she  had  with 
it  an  excitement  as  of  one  who  had  heard  pleas 
ant  news  or  to  whom  great  treasures  have  just 
been  given. 

"  Jock,"  she  asked,  "  have  you  been  sleep 
ing?" 

"  No,"  said  I. 

"  Oh,  listen  then,"  she  cried,  "  for  indeed  it 
was  not  possible  that  I  should  sleep  without 
telling  you  what's  come  to  me.  It's  this  Burns 
man,"  she  went  on;  "no  one,  not  eyen  Shake 
speare,  has  spoken  so.  It's  as  though  he  taught 
a  new  religion.  It's  kindness  all  through,  and 
charity  and  love ;  with  rhymes  upon  rhymes,  as 
if  it  were  child's  play  for  him  to  make  verses. 
It's  raised  me  out  of  myself.  It's  what  I've 
always  known  was  true.  It's  the  liberty,  equal 
ity,  and  fraternity  of  France.  It's  the  '  all 
men  were  born  free  and  equal '  of  the  col 
onies.  It's  all,  and  more,  that  I've  tried  to  work 
[101] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  VIII 

out  oh.1  the'  burn-side.  It's  like  a  great  voice 
calling.' '  -Ob,':  'she  cried,  "  Ramsay's  nothing  to 
him,  and  Fergusson  but  a  gusty  child." 

"  Nancy,  darling,"  I  said,  "  have  ye  risen  in 
the  middle  of  the  night  to  tear  down  the  idols 
of  your  childhood?  Let  me  see  the  book,"  I 
cried,  for  a  bit  of  rhyme  was  a  choicer  draught 
to  me  than  a  glass  of  an  old  vintage. 

"  Let  me  read  ye  this,"  she  said — I  can  re 
member  now  the  slant  white  light  of  a  late  moon 
coming  in  through  the  casement,  the  honey 
suckle's  breath,  and  her  face,  half  in  light,  half 
in  shadow,  as  she  read  the  Epistle  to  Davie. 
As  I  listened  I  sat  upright,  more  engrossed, 
wider  eyed;  and  when  she  came  to  those  two 
stanzas,  the  greatest  of  their  kind  ever  penned, 
I  was  off  my  feet  with  her,  and  on  my  oath  we 
sat  till  the  purpling  flush  came  in  the  east,  in 
an  ecstasy  of  appreciation  of  him  "  who  walked 
in  glory  and  in  joy  behind  his  plow  upon  the 
mountain- side  " : 

"  What  tho',  like  commoners  of  air, 
We  wander  out,  we  know  not  where, 
But  either  house  or  hall  without. 

•«  Yet  nature's  charms,  the  hills  and  woods, 
The  sweeping  vales,  an'  foaming  floods 
Are  free  alike  to  all 

[102] 


CHAP.  VIII  NANCY    STAIR 

In  days  when  daisies  deck  the  ground, 

And  blackbirds  whistle  clear, 
With  honest  joy  our  hearts  will  bound, 

To  see  the  coming  year : 

On  braes  when  we  please  then,  heights. 

We'll  sit  an'  sowth  a  tune;  whistle  softly 

Syne  rhyme  UlVt,  we'll  time  till't, 

afterwards,     to  *t. 

An'  sing't  when  we  hae  done." 

"Oh,  Jock,"  she  says,  "I've  done  it  often; 
haven't  you? " 

"  It's  no  in  titles  nor  in  rank; 
It's  no  in  wealth  like  Lon'non  bank, 

To  purchase  peace  and  rest; 
It's  no  in  makin'  muckle  mair 
It's  no  in  books,  it's  no  in  lear  learning 

To  make  us  truly  blest : 
If  happiness  hae  not  her  seat 
An'  centre  in  the  breast, 
We  may  be  wise,  or  rich,  or  great, 
But  never  can  be  blest ; 
Nae  treasures  nor  pleasures 

Could  make  us  happy  lang; 
The  heart  ay's  the  part  ay 
That  makes  us  right  or  wrang." 

—BURNS,  1785. 

"It's  just  grand,"  I  said,  "Nancy;  and 
there're  no  two  ways  of  it." 

"There's  about  all  there  is  of  life  in  this 
little  book,  and  it's  made  my  rhyming-ware 
[103] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  VIII 

cheap.  Do  you  think,"  she  says,  coming  over  to 
kiss  me  before  I  sent  her  off  to  bed,  "  do  you 
think  I  can  ever  meet  wi'  Mr.  Burns! " 

"  If  you  want  it,  you  shall,"  I  said ;  "  unless 
the  man  himself  objects.  We'll  have  him  up 
to  Stair ;  and  now  forget  him  and  get  some  rest, 
Little  Flower." 

She  went  away  and  left  me,  and  I  turned  to 
sleep  with  that  great  couplet  going  over  and 
over  in  my  head  like  the  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs : 

"  The  heart  ay's  the  part  ay 
That  makes  us  right  or  wrang." 


[104] 


CHAPTER  IX 

DANVEES   BECOMES   BETTER   ACQUAINTED   WITH 

NANCY 

THERE  were  two  reasons  why  Danvers  was 
able  to  see  Nancy  almost  uninterruptedly  the 
next  two  or  three  weeks,  the  first  being  that  we 
were  but  late  returned  from  London,  with  old 
ties  to  be  formed  anew;  and  the  second,  a  law 
affair  among  the  Burn-folk,  the  trouble  of  which 
took  much  of  Nancy's  time,  and  eventually 
brought  into  our  lives  the  great  Duke  of  Borth- 
wicke,  of  whom  I  shall  have  more  to  say. 
These  left  Danvers  a  fair  field  where  Nancy 
was  concerned,  and  no  man  living  ever  covered 
his  ground  better  or  made  a  braver  wooing. 
From  the  minute  his  eye  lighted  upon  her  in 
the  doorway  it  seemed  as  though  it  were  "  all 
by  with  him,"  as  the  country  folk  say,  for  he 
seemed  to  have  no  thoughts  but  for  her,  with 
the  world  welcome  to  a  knowledge  of  the  fact. 

Every  day  the  conservatories  of  Arran  were 
[105] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

stripped  for  her,  hampers  of  fruit,  and  books, 
and  notes  which  sent  the  blood  rioting  to  her 
cheeks,  were  over  every  morning;  and  before 
they  could  be  forgotten,  Danvers  was  there  in 
person,  a  handsome,  passionate,  dominating 
lover,  whose  nature  was  one  I  could  understand 
and  whose  love-making  was  as  headlong  and 
impetuous  as  my  own  had  been. 

I  remember  watching  him  bending  over  her 
one  night  as  they  stood  together  before  going 
in  to  dinner,  and  Marian's  words  came  back  to 
me  at  sight  of  him: 

"  For  ye  woo  as  a  man  should  woo ;  and  I'm 
won  as  a  woman  should  be  won — because  she 
has  no  will  to  choose." 

Talk  of  Danvers  fell  between  Sandy  and  me 
quite  naturally  at  this  time,  and  one  night, 
when  I  was  praising  his  boy  to  him  with  much 
enthusiasm,  he  answered  with  a  laugh: 

"Of  course  you  like  him!  Why  shouldn't 
you!  You're  of  a  piece,  the  two  of  you.  You 
are  both  primeval  creatures,  not  far  removed 
in  your  love-making  from  the  time  when  men 
lived  in  caves,  and  if  they  wanted  a  woman  they 
knocked  her  down  with  a  club  and  carried  her 
home,  and  the  wooing  was  over." 
[106] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

"  Barring  the  knocking  down,"  I  answered, 
"  it's  not  so  bad  a  way." 

"  That's  well  enough,"  he  retorted,  "  where 
women  are  but  gentle  female  animals.  But  take 
a  woman  with  a  mind  or  gift — such  as  Nancy 
Stair  has — and  ye'll  find  a  complication  in  the 
affair  not  to  be  solved  with  a  club." 

The  two  of  us  had  no  small  sport  with  Dan- 
vers  over  his  condition,  for  he  had  fallen  in  love 
to  such  an  extent  that  he  would  start  sentences 
which  he  forgot  to  finish,  make  the  most  irrele 
vant  remarks,  or  drop  into  a-dreaming  in  the 
midst  of  talk,  so  that  his  father  fell  to  recalling 
him  by  shouting: 

"  View  Halloo ! "  in  a  very  loud  voice,  as 
they  do  on  the  hunting  field,  following  it  up 
by  talk  full  of  a  jeering  seriousness,  as  it 
were: 

"  Do  you  think,  Danvers,  in— er— your  pres 
ent  state,  you  would  be  able  to  get  this  letter 
to  the  post!  " 

Or, 

"Would  ye  be  like  to  fall  into  a  sound 
slumber  if  ye  started  to  ring  for  a  stable-boy, 
Band? " 

Or, 

[107] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

"  Do  you  think  you  could  charge  your  mind, 
without  danger  to  it,  with  passing  me  the 
brandy?"  all  of  which  the  lad  bore  with  an 
amused  smile  and  open  shamelessness. 

One  night,  after  dinner,  during  this  time,  I 
recall  that  there  was  a  discussion  over  the  cut 
ting  of  a  roadway  between  our  houses,  and  after 
Sandy  had  thrown  in  the  fatherly  suggestion 
that  if  Danvers  remained  at  Arran  much  longer 
the  road  would  be  worn  by  his  footsteps  with 
no  expense  to  us,  Danvers,  who  was  awaiting 
Nancy  to  walk  on  the  porch  with  him,  began : 

"  I  think " 

"Ye  need  go  no  further,"  Sandy  broke  in, 
with  a  laugh.  "You  flatter  yourself!  You 
think"  he  continued;  "you've  been  incapable 
of  thought  for  nearly  two  weeks.  Neither  of 
us  would  give  a  boddle  for  your  opinion  on  any 
subject  save  one.  I'll  wager,"  he  said,  coming 
over  to  his  son  and  putting  a  hand  on  each  of 
his  shoulders,  "  that  ye  could  not  count  twenty 
straight  ahead,  if  your  salvation  depended  on 
it.  And  to  think  that  I  have  been  raising  a 
great  fellow  like  you  to  be  ordered  about  by  a 
slip  of  a  girl.  Ye're  crazy,"  he  said,  going  on, 
"  stark,  Bedlam  crazy !  " 

[108] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

On  the  moment  of  his  speaking  Nancy  came 
to  the  door  with  mutinous  eyes,  a  riot  of  color 
in  her  cheeks,  and  some  filmy  white  stuff  drawn 
round  her  head  and  shoulders,  and  as  she  stood 
Danvers  turned  to  us. 

"  Look  at  her !  "  he  cried.  "  How  else  would 
ye  have  me  be?  " 

We  were  out  of  doors  one  afternoon,  per 
haps  a  week  later,  sitting  in  the  shadow  of  the 
great  tower.  Nancy,  in  a  frock  of  green,  cut 
out  at  the  neck,  and  a  bewildering  hig  hat  with 
pink  flowers  upon  it,  was  pouring  tea  for  us, 
with  Danvers  Carmichael  lying  at  full  length  on 
the  grass  beside  her,  smoking  and  inventing 
excuses  at  intervals  to  touch  her  hand. 

The  talk  drifted  round  to  Robert  Burns, 
and  when  I  stated  the  manner  in  which  Nancy 
and  I  had  spent  the  first  night  we  had  had  his 
book,  Danvers  regarded  us  with  no  small  degree 
of  amazement. 

"  Did  you,"  he  inquired,  after  a  pause,  "  sit 
up  all  night  reading  rhyme,  the  two  of  you !  " 

"We  did,"  said  I;  "and  it's  not  the  first 
night  we  have  passed  so,  Nancy  Stair  and  I." 

"  But  why,"  he  went  on,  "  couldn't  you  wait 
till  the  morning? " 

[109] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

"  We're  no  made  that  way,"  I  answered,  with 
a  laugh. 

"  Well,"  he  returned,  "  the  thing  is  as  incom 
prehensible  to  me  as  if  you'd  tattooed  yourself ; 
but,"  he  added  philosophically,  clasping  his 
hands  behind  his  head  and  staring  up  into  the 
sky,  "  every  man  knows  his  own  fun.  There's 
a  friend  of  mine  who  knows  this  Burns,"  he 
added. 

"What  does  he  say  of  him?"  I  inquired 
with  interest. 

"  Billy's  hardly  one  to  appreciate  poetry," 
he  answered,  "  but  he  fell  in  with  Burns  some 
where  at  a  masons'  meeting.  He  said  he  was  a 
handsome  pirate,  who  had  sent  the  clergy  of  his 
native  place  into  despair;  that  he  made  love  to 
every  woman  he  saw,  and  that  his  name  was 
the  scandal  of  the  county;  but  that  personally 
he  considered  the  man  a  wonder  and  liked  him 
fine." 

"  Jock's  going  to  have  him  here,"  Nancy 
said,  with  a  pleased  smile  and  shining  eyes. 

"  No,  no,"  cried  Danvers  Carmichael,  vehe 
mently,  sitting  upright.  "  I  wouldn't  do  that,  my 
lord." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  Nancy  inquired. 
[110] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

"  It's  a  matter,"  he  said,  "  that  I  could  ex 
plain  better  to  Lord  Stair  than  to  you,  Miss 
Nancy,"  and  there  was  a  consideration  for  her 
in  his  tone  which  warmed  my  heart  toward  him. 

"  You  mean,"  Nancy  said,  with  a  smile, 
"  that  he's  not  a  good  man  and  will  make  love 
to  me,  mayhap,  or  that  it  might  harm  me  in 
some  way.  You  don't  appreciate  the  rearing 
I've  had,  I'm  afraid,"  she  said,  handing  down 
another  cup  of  tea  to  him.  "  Lawing  with  Pit- 
cairn  and  dealing  with  all  manner  of  roguery 
• 

and  villainy  on  the  burn-side  have  taught  me 
many  things.  These  two  gentlemen  have  reared 
me  up  in  a  strange  way.  Once  I  heard  Sandy 
say: 

" '  She's  a  filly  that's  got  to  be  given  her 
head,  and  she'll  soon  learn  the  fences  that  it  is 
wise  to  take  and  the  ones  that  it  is  wise  to  let 
alone. ' " 

"And  were  we  not  wise?"  Sandy  inter 
rupted,  "  were  we  not  wise?  Ye  know,  Mistress 
Stair,  ye  were  no  easy  matter  to  bring  up.  Al 
ways  like  a  flower,  gentle  as  a  ewe  lamb,  seeing 
into  everybody's  heart,  verse-making  till  your 
poor  little  head  ached,  joining  gipsy  folk,  fore 
gathering  with  tramps  and  criminals,  wheed- 
[111] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

ling  the  heart  out  of  every  one  of  us,  but  under 
it  all,  fixed  in  a  determination  to  have  your  own 
way  in  spite  of  the  deil  himself.  Ye  were  a 
pretty  problem  for  two  lone  men  to  handle." 

"  Don't  be  believing  them,  Dandy,"  she  said, 
turning  the  light  of  those  wonderful  gray  eyes 
down  on  him.  "  Ye  will  not,  will  ye?  They  are 
not  always  truthful,"  she  said,  with  a  side- 
glance  toward  us  both. 

"In  spite  of  your  training?"  Dandy 
laughed. 

"  In  spite  of  my  training,"  Nancy  answered 
demurely. 

As  we  sat  thus,  the  bright  warm  day  pass 
ing  lazily  toward  the  twilight,  I  saw  a  figure 
come  from  one  of  the  houses  on  the  burn,  and 
start  at  the  top  of  speed  along  the  ford-rift, 
which  led  through  the  harrowed  field.  As  it 
neared  the  south  gate  I  saw  that  it  was  Jamie 
Henderlin,  who  broke  into  our  group,  his  pallor 
and  anxiety  forming  abundant  excuse  for  the 
interruption  to  our  talk. 

"  Miss  Nancy,"  he  cried,  "  they've  convicted 
him!" 

"Convicted  Lapraik?"  Nancy  asked,  as 
though  it  were  impossible. 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

"  Yes,  in  an  hour  or  less.  Pitcairn  had  an 
other  witness — and  Tod's  sentenced  to  trans 
portation  ! " 

No  happening  which  I  can  think  of  would 
have  set  Nancy  Stair  more  plainly  before  Dan- 
vers  than  this  one,  which  fell  directly  beneath 
his  eye. 

"  But,"  she  said,  and  her  eyes  blackened  as 
she  spoke,  "  the  man  is  innocent." 

"  Every  one  knows  it,"  Jamie  cried ;  "  but 
Meenie's  like  to  go  to  the  grave  because  of  the 
trouble,  which  means  naught  to  Pitcairn  or  to 
him  called  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke." 

"Ah,  well,  Jamie,"  said  Nancy  soothingly, 
"you  must  not  worry  over  it.  There  is  more 
than  one  way  to  circumvent  Mr.  Pitcairn;  and 
a  few  jurymen,  more  or  less,  are  nothing  to  fash 
one's  soul  about  one  way  or  another.  Who  was 
the  new  witness  1 " 

"  His  name  was  McGuirk." 

"A  Hieland  body?"  Nancy  inquired. 

"  In  the  service  of  the  duke  himself." 

"  What  did  he  swear  to?  " 

"He  swore  to  Tod's  having  threated  the 
duke's  life,  and  that  Tod  had  said  to  him  there 
was  a  way  to  even  the  matter  of  the  raised  rent." 
[113] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

"Ah,"  said  Nancy,  and  there  was  a  bit  of 
admiration  in  her  tone,  "the  duke's  a  clever 
man.  In  all  his  law-suiting  he  finds  out  just 
what  bit  of  testimony  is  needed  and  gets  it." 

"  If  you'll  excuse  me,"  she  said,  rising,  "  I'll 
g6  down  and  see  Meenie,  who  probably  thinks 
everything  in  life  is  over." 

As  she  went  over  the  grass  with  Jamie, 
Danvers  Carmichael  turned  an  astonished  face 
toward  us. 

"What  is  it  all  about? "  he  asked. 

"It's  a  long  tale,"  I  answered,  "which, 
stripped  of  its  trappings,  runs  like  this :  Meenie 
is  Jamie's  adopted  sister,  and  the  Lapraik  man 
is  a  sweetheart  of  hers  who  owns  a  bit  farm  in 
the  Highlands  next  to  Borthwicke  Castle— 

"  For  Heaven's  sake,"  Sandy  exclaimed, 
blowing  a  cloud  of  smoke  toward  the  sky, 
"  don't  tell  that  tale  again,  Jock  Stair." 

" — And  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke  wants  the 
farm  to  add  to  his  land,"  I  went  on,  unper 
turbed,  "  and  Lapraik  will  not  sell.  So  one  fine 
day  he  is  accused  of  theft  by  the  duke's  factor, 
some  of  the  Montrose  silver  is  found  under  his 
roof,  and  he  is  arrested  and  convicted,  as  you 
have  just  heard.  Common  rumor  has  it  that 
[1141 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY    STAIR 

the  duke  wants  him  out  of  the  country — the 
fact  that  he  was  brought  to  Edinburgh  to  be 
tried  shows  that  there  is  a  powerful  influence 
pushing  the  thing  along.  Pitcairn  is  the  duke's 
man  of  business,  which  makes  the  handling  of 
it  easier  here  where  he  is  counsel  for  the 
crown." 

"It  will  make  it  an  odd  affair  if  Nancy 
takes  the  matter  in  hand,  considering  she's  Pit- 
cairn's  own  pupil,"  Sandy  suggested. 

"  Is  it  true  she's  studied  the  law  under  Pit- 
cairn?"  Danvers  inquired. 

"  Scots  and  English,"  I  answered. 

"In  the  name  of  smitten  Caesar,"  he  cried, 
for  that  was  a  word  of  the  time,  "  what  for?  " 

"We've  never  come  to  any  settlement  of 
it  between  us,  but  your  father  holds  that  she 
studied  it  to  circumvent  it,"  I  answered,  with  a 
laugh.  "  She  told  us  once  that  the  more  law  one 
knew  the  safer  one  could  break  it." 

"I  think,"  Danvers  returned,  rising  and 
looking  away  from  us  to  the  burn — "  I  think  she 
needs  some  one  to  look  after  her." 

"  It  has  dawned  upon  us  that  that  was  your 
opinion,"  Sandy  rejoined  drolly. 

"  Lawing  with  Pitcairn,  managing  an  army 
9  [115] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

of  poor  folk  on  the  burn,  attending  to  charities, 
settling  disputes — it's  not  right.  The  poor 
child  has  a  headache  all  the  time,  for  it's  a 
man's  work  she's  doing.  Women  are  for  better 
things.  A  woman  should  save  her  vitality." 

"For  what?"  asked  his  father. 

"  For  wifehood  and  motherhood,"  Danvers 
responded. 

It  sounded  like  a  leaf  from  Pitcairn's  book, 
but  while  his  whole  talk  was  disrespectful  to 
us  as  older  men,  it  had  a  rare  manly  quality 
fine  to  see.  In  the  very  midst  of  it  Nancy  was 
with  us  again,  and,  minding  Danvers  Carmi- 
chael  no  more  than  she  did  the  wooden  benches, 
came  over  to  me. 

"  I'm  going  to  see  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke," 
said  she. 

"  Is  it  your  intention,"  I  inquired,  "  to  send 
out  scouts  for  his  grace  that  ye  may  interview 
him?  I  understand  him  to  be  a  peripatetic 
body,  who  travels  a  great  deal  in  furtherance 
of  his  nefarious  schemes.  He  may  not  even  be 
in  Scotland." 

"  He  is  in  Edinburgh  at  the  moment,"  she 
answered,  "  at  the  '  Sign  of  the  Blue  Thistle.' 
He  has  with  him  his  secretary,  Donovan;  his 
[116] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY    STAIK 

valet,  and  two  serving-men.  They  have  their 
lodgment  in  four  rooms  on  the  second  floor; 
he  is  bid  to  the  ball  at  the  Duchess  of  Gordon's 
to-night  and  at  eleven  to-morrow  leaves  in  his 
private  coach  for  the  Highlands." 

"  The  Government  should  employ  you, 
Nancy  Stair,"  Sandy  broke  in  with  a  laugh. 
The  country  is  just  now  needing  people  who 
can  pick  up  such  accurate  information." 

"  It  was  no  great  matter  to  do,"  she  ex 
plained.  "  When  people  whose  lives  are  hang 
ing  on  the  duke's  acts  have  been  watching  him 
for  days  they  are  like  to  know  his  movements. 
I  will  go  to-night,  before  the  ball ;  and  if  you'll 
excuse  me  now,  I'll  try  to  get  some  rest,"  and 
with  no  further  word  she  left  us. 

She  had  scarce  turned  the  box-hedge  when 
Danvers  Carmichael  gave  us  a  taste  of  his  na 
ture  and  had  his  say  with  us  in  language  free 
and  skirting  the  profane. 

"  Suppose,"  he  began,  "  suppose  she  goes  to 
see  the  duke,  and  suppose,  which  is  far  from 
likely,  that  she  is  able  to  obtain  an  audience 
with  him,  what  is  there  for  her  to  say?  She 
can  not  very  well  just  call  the  man  a  scoundrel ! 
And  as  for  the  Lapraik  affair,  if  he  has  the  ras- 
[117] 


NANCY    STAIK  CHAP.  IX 

cality  to  do  the  act,  it's  not  likely  that  he  will 
flinch  at  the  naming  of  it." 

Getting  no  answer  to  this  from  either  of  us 
he  went  on  at  white  heat,  stating  in  violent  and 
unshaded  English  the  wrong  of  allowing  a  girl, 
little  more  than  a  child,  to  visit  a  man  of  the 
duke's  repute,  and  giving  it  as  his  opinion  that 
his  father  and  I  were  the  ones  to  take  the  affair 
upon  our  shoulders.  He  even  volunteered  to 
visit  the  duke  himself  in  Tod's  behalf. 

"  And  in  your  own  tongue,"  asked  Sandy, 
"what  would  ye  say  when  ye  got  there? " 

"  Ye  might  just  call  him  a  scoundrel,  as  ye 
suggested  Nancy's  doing.  His  grace  might  re 
ceive  it  better  coming  from  a  man,"  I  said 
cheerfully. 

"  Sit  ye  down,  lad,"  Sandy  said  at  length ; 
"  sit  ye  down.  And  stop  making  a  windmill  of 
your  arms  as  ye  stand  on  that  rise,  or  we  may 
think  we  are  all  Dutch  folk  together;  and  just 
give  over  thinking  ye  know  all  women,  because 
ye've  made  love  to  some  senseless  London  fil 
lies  with  no  brains  in  their  heads  whatever. 
It's  a  wise  man  that  understands  that  no  two 
women  are  alike.  John  Stair  and  I  have  seen 
something  of  life  in  our  time,  aye,  and  some- 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY    STAIK 

thing  of  women ;  but  Nancy's  a  different  crea 
ture  from  anything  in  our  ken.  Ye  might  just 
trust  a  little  to  our  judgment  of  her." 

If  Danvers  were  abashed  by  this  speech  he 
showed  it  never  a  whit,  but  stood  very  erect, 
his  brows  drawn  into  a  scowl  not  unlike  Nancy's 
own,  glowering  first  at  his  father  and  then  at 
me.  Sandy,  who  was,  in  his  mind's  eye,  re- 
rigging  a  schooner,  went  on  with  his  paper-and- 
pencil  work,  unconscious  of  his  son's  scrutiny. 
I  dropped  my  eyes  to  the  Allan  Ramsay,  which 
I  had  opened  at  random,  but  lost  nothing  of 
Danvers's  conduct,  and  liked  him  for  it.  He 
had  known  but  the  women  who  needed  protec 
tion,  and  his  attitude  to  my  mind  bespoke  the 
chivalrous  gentleman. 

"Will  she  go  alone?  "  he  inquired  abruptly. 

"  She  will  probably  take  Father  Michel." 

"And  might  I  inquire  without  discourtesy 
who  Father  Michel  is? " 

"  He  is  a  priest  who  came  up  with  us  from 
Landgore,  and  the  best  man  I  ever  knew,"  said 
I.  "  'Tis  he  who  attends  to  the  burn  people." 

"And  will  he  tell  her  what  to  say  to  his 
Grace  of  Borthwicke? " 

"  She  will  not  need  to  be  told,"  I  answered. 
[1191 


NANCY    STAIE  CHAP.  IX 

"  Indeed,  Dandy  Carmichael,  this  is  not  the  first 
time  she  has  gone  on  such  errands." 

"  And  does  she  get  her  way?  " 

"  She  has  never  failed  yet." 

"  It's  true,"  Danvers  went  on,  "  that  I've  met 
none  of  her  kind,  but  if  she  go  to  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke,  as  man  to  man " 

"  She  will  not  go  as  man  to  man,"  Sandy 
broke  in  with  a  smile.  "  She  will  go  as  woman 
to  man.  There's  a  mighty  differ." 

"  You  see,  Dandy,"  said  I,  trying  to  smooth 
the  talk  a  bit,  "  although  she's  my  own,  there's 
sure  no  harm  in  my  saying  that  she  is  an  extraor 
dinary  creature.  That  she  has  great  beauty  a 
blind  man  could  see;  but  that's  the  least  of  her, 
for  she  has  the  heart  and  the  principles  of  the 
purest  and  the  best.  But,  oh,  laddie,  in  her 
dealings  with  men  she  has  the  knowledge  of  the 
deil  himself.  Mayhap  she'll  cry  a  bit,  or  flout 
the  duke,  or  laugh  at  his  ways.  She'll  do  the 
thing  which  she  finds  his  mood  and  the  hou>* 
suit,  and  she'll  come  away  with  the  pardon  ii 
her  hand,  and  say  ever  after  that  the  duke  is 
maligned  and  that  at  heart  he  is  a  very  good 
man.  And  she'll  believe  it,  too." 

Dinner  without  Nancy  was  a  tasteless  affair, 
[ISO] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

and  we  spent  little  time  at  table,  having  the 
pipes  and  wine  brought  into  the  library.  As 
we  sat  there  the  sound  of  Jamie's  violin  came 
sobbing  up  from  the  Burnside  as  he  played  for 
his  stricken  sister  in  the  old  low  house  where 
three  hearts  were  praying  for  Nancy  Stair. 
Sitting  there  with  a  silence,  save  for  the  music, 
between  us,  we  heard  a  door  open  on  the  floor 
above  and  the  sound  of  light  footsteps  on  the 
stair.  She  came  to  the  doorway,  looked  in  to 
see  if  we  were  alone,  and  then,  with  neither  shy 
ness  nor  self-consciousness,  came  in  to  "  show 
us  how  she  looked." 

"  I've  put  on  my  best  frock — the  one  the 
girls  made  for  me  on  the  burn — in  the  lace 
work,"  she  said. 

It  was  cobwebby  stuff  over  white  satin,  the 
neck,  cut  in  the  free  fashion  of  the  time,  show 
ing  her  dimpled  shoulders  and  the  turn  of  the 
breast.  She  had  dressed  her  hair  in  a  bunch 
of  curls,  high  on  the  head,  and  over  her  fore 
head  she  wore  the  circlet  of  diamonds  which 
my  great-grandfather  had  given  to  that  French 
ancestress  of  ours  with  the  uncommendable  but 
frank  conduct.  Around  her  neck  was  the  fa 
mous  necklace  of  diamonds  and  emeralds,  and 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  IX 

at  the  bosom  a  cluster  of  diamonds  winked  and 
twinkled  at  every  breath.  She  stood  for  one 
minute  near  me,  her  eyes  like  misty  gray  stars 
shining  over  the  bloom  of  roses,  her  slender 
arms  bared,  and  one  slight  hand,  shining  with 
rings,  laid  on  the  table. 

"  Do  I  look  pretty,  Jock  ? "  she  said,  as  I 
raised  the  little  hand  to  my  lips  and  kissed  it, 
with  what  a  passion  of  love  only  he  can  know 
whose  nature  is  a  tempestuous  loving  one  like 
mine,  and  whose  only  daughter  is  his  sweet 
heart  and  his  wife. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  satisfied  with  my  expres 
sions,  "  the  coach  is  at  the  door,"  and  then,  hold 
ing  out  her  hand  to  Danvers,  "  Will  ye  not  wish 
me  luck,  Mr.  Carmichael  ?  " 

Danvers  Carmichael  had  spoken  no  word  and 
made  no  sign  since  her  entrance  until  he  was 
thus  directly  addressed,  and  the  three  of  us 
turned  suddenly  toward  him  as  he  stood  by  the 
chimney-piece.  A  look  of  unfettered  admira 
tion  of  her  was  in  his  eyes  as  he  answered: 

"  There's  no  one  wishing  you  that  more  than 
I,  Miss  Nancy." 

Father  Michel's  grave  face  looked  at  us 
serenely  from  the  coach  window  for  a  minute, 
[122] 


CHAP.  IX  NANCY   STAIR 

and  we  stood  on  the  steps  watching  them  drive 
away  and  listening  to  the  horses'  hoofs  growing 
fainter  and  fainter  along  the  outer  road. 

Before  they  had  died  away  entirely  Danvers 
turned  toward  me. 

"  Lord  Stair,"  he  said,  "  may  I  call  myself 
so  much  at  home  as  to  ring  for  a  groom?  I 
want  my  horse.  I'm  going  to  ride  after  her." 

"What  for?  "  Sandy  inquired. 

"  To  protect  her,"  he  answered. 

"  Well,"  observed  Sandy,  dryly,  "  ye  may  as 
well  go  and  be  on  hand  in  case  there's  need  of 
help.  Nancy,"  he  added  with  a  laugh,  "  won't 
need  it.  But  you  may  be  called  in  to  protect 
the  duke." 


[123] 


CHAPTER   X 

NANCY   VISITS   HIS   GBACE   OF   BOKTHWICKE 

AT  the  time  of  which  I  write  John  Montrose, 
Duke  of  Borthwicke,  Ardvilarchan,  and  Drum- 
blaine,  was  the  most  noticed  man  in  the  Three 
Kingdoms,  and  held  by  many  to  be  the  greatest 
scoundrel  in  the  politics  of  Europe.  He  was  a 
picturesque  and  stately  devil,  tall,  clean  shaven, 
with  fine  features  and  damnable  light  blue  eyes 
with  a  baffling  gleam  in  them.  He  had  a  singu 
lar  grace  in  the  use  of  his  body,  especially  in 
the  movement  of  his  hands,  which  were  mark 
edly  expressive  and  attractive;  and  whether 
drawn  to  him  or  not,  one  could  deny  neither  his 
potency  nor  his  distinction  of  bearing,  which 
was  one  of  race  as  well  as  breeding.  The  first 
view  I  ever  had  of  him  was  in  Parliament 
House,  where  I  noted  on  the  instant  the  mag 
nificent  carriage  of  his  head  and  chest,  his  ex 
traordinary  pallor,  and  the  strange  eyes,  reflect 
ing  the  light  from  without  rather  than  reveal 
ing  anything  within. 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIR 

In  London,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin,  the  tide 
of  gossip  overflowed  with  his  name  and  carried 
in  its  current  tales  of  his  greatness,  his  cruelty, 
his  lawless  loves  and  his  quick  forgettings.  It 
was  libeled  against  him  that  he  had  magnetic 
power  over  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
bending  them  to  his  will  by  the  sheer  dominance 
of  his  presence.  There  was,  I  recall,  a  story 
rife  that  upon  my  Lord  Thurlow's  opposition 
to  the  bill  for  the  restoration  of  the  forfeited 
estates  becoming  known,  it  was  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke  who  was  sent  to  treat  with  him  con 
cerning  it,  and  immediately  after  this  visit  the 
bill  passed  the  House  of  Lords  with  small  op 
position. 

It  was  whispered  as  well  that  Pitt  himself 
was  afraid  of  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke,  and  was 
no  match  for  the  man,  who  had  a  peculiar  power 
by  reason  of  being  unhampered  either  by  truth 
or  precedent.  Blake,  who  was  the  duke's  sec 
retary  in  '84,  told  me  at  the  club  one  night,  that 
on  one  occasion  his  grace  had  needed  some 
statistics  to  clinch  an  argument.  After  investi 
gation  the  statistics  were  found  to  disprove  his 
point.  Upon  this  being  presented  to  him,  he 
remarked  dryly,  "  Alter  the  statistics." 
[135] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  X 

Ugly  tales  were  abroad  in  all  classes  of  so 
ciety  concerning  his  life  in  India,  his  conduct 
in  the  Highlands,  and  his  moral  idiocy,  but  he 
held  them  under  with  a  strong  hand,  and  more 
than  one  hinted  that  he  had  eyes  for  the  pre 
miership. 

Dressed  for  the  evening,  the  duke  was  alone 
in  his  sitting-room,  attending  to  his  private  cor 
respondence,  when  he  heard  a  rap  at  the  door. 

"  Enter,"  he  called,  in  a  careless  voice,  think 
ing  it  one  of  his  men. 

Nancy  lifted  the  latch  and  came  forward 
into  the  room. 

"  The  Duke  of  Borthwicke  will  pardon  my 
intrusion,  will  he  not? "  she  asked,  "  as  well  as 
my  lack  of  courtesy?  I  was  afraid  his  grace 
might  refuse  to  see  me  if  I  were  announced  to 
him  in  the  ordinary  manner." 

Montrose  had  been  writing  at  an  oaken 
table,  on  either  side  of  which  was  a  bracket  of 
lights.  At  the  sound  of  the  voice  he  turned, 
and,  at  the  sight  of  Nancy,  he  rose  and  stood 
looking  at  her  as  though  she  were  an  appar 
ition. 

Many  times  since,  in  her  description  of  this 
interview,  she  told  me  that  she  received  from 
[136] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIR 

him  an  impression  as  though  he  stretched  forth 
his  hand  and  touched  her.  She  said,  as  well, 
that  the  erectness  of  his  body  and  the  fulness  of 
his  chest  gave  him  the  air  of  a  conqueror  who 
was  invincible,  while  the  pallor  of  his  face  and 
the  glitter  of  his  eye  set  him  still  further  apart 
from  anything  usual. 

It  seemed  a  full  minute  that  they  stood  thus 
taking  notes  openly  of  each  other  before  she 
spoke  again. 

"  I  am  Nancy  Stair,"  she  said  quietly. 

"Ah,"  the  duke  returned,  coming  forward 
with  a  smile,  "the  verse-maker?" 

"  I  make  verses,"  Nancy  answered. 

"  Which  have  given  me  more  pleasure  than 
I  have  the  power  to  tell,"  the  duke  responded 
with  a  bow. 

"It  is  praise  indeed,  coming  from  John 
Montrose,  who  is  no  mean  poet  himself,"  Nancy 
said  with  a  smile. 

"  I,"  the  duke  returned,  "  am  no  poet,  Mis 
tress  Stair ;  but  I  have  a  '  spunk  enough  of  glee ' 
to  enjoy  the  gift  of  others." 

"One  might  think  who  overheard  us,  my 
lord  duke,"  Nancy  broke  in  with  a  laugh  and 
the  light  of  humor  in  her  eyes  by  which  she 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  X 

could  make  another  smile  at  any  time,  "  that  we 
were  collegians  having  a  critical  discussion.  It 
was  not  concerning  poetry  that  I  came  to  you 
to-night,  your  grace.  It  was  to  ask  a  favor." 

"  Pitcairn  said  you  would  come,"  the  duke 
answered  her  blandly,  taking  out  his  watch  and 
looking  at  it  with  a  smile.  "  He  said  you  would 
come  before  you  went  to  the  Duchess  of  Gor 
don's  rout.  He  even  named  the  exact  time 
within  a  quarter  of  an  hour." 

"  Mr.  Pitcairn  is  a  very  wonderful  man," 
Nancy  returned. 

"  He's  a  poor  hand  at  description,"  re 
sponded  the  duke,  with  a  heat  of  admiration  for 
her  in  his  tone. 

"  It  depends  somewhat,"  said  Nancy,  "  upon 
what  he  has  the  describing  of."  And  in  this 
speech  the  way  women  know  how  to  belittle  an 
enemy  is  clearly  to  be  seen.  "  He  can  describe 
a  barn  to  a  farmer,  a  road  to  a  surveyor,  or  a 
church  to  an  architect,  so  that  they  fall  into  an 
ecstasy  of  admiration  of  his  parts.  When  it 
comes  to  a  woman  it's  a  different  matter.  Mr. 
Pitcairn  doesn't  know  a  woman.  He's  not, 
rightly  speaking,  a  man.  As  Mr.  Carmichael 
says,  '  He's  just  a  head.'  " 
[128] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIR 

"  It's  a  curious  head,"  the  duke  answers,  "  a 
curious  head  and  a  very  clear  one." 

"  A  clear  head  to  prosecute ;  never  to  de 
fend,"  Nancy  responded ;  "  which  leads  ine  to 
the  cause  of  my  visit.  I  have  come  to  ask  for 
the  pardon  of  Timothy  Lapraik." 

The  duke  dropped  his  eyelids,  and  a  strange 
light  shone  from  under  them. 

"You  compliment  me,  Mistress  Stair,  in 
thinking  I  have  the  power  to  undo  that  which 
was  settled  by  the  law  of  your  country  and  a 
jury  tried  and  true.  I  took  no  part  in  the 
affair ;  the  prosecution  was  not  mine ;  in  a  word, 
the  thing  is  perhaps  beyond  my  power,  had  I 
the  desire  to  get  him  a  pardon,  which,  however, 
I  have  not." 

All  this  time  neither  had  made  any  motion 
toward  sitting  down,  but  stood  regarding  each 
other,  alert  and  watchful.  It  was  Nancy  Stair 
who  took  the  first  move.  Coming  over  to  the 
duke  she  put  one  of  her  hands  on  his  breast  and 
stood  looking  up  at  him  out  of  those  gray  eyes 
of  whose  power  she  was  not  unconscious. 

"  My  lord,"  she  said,  "  I,  who  have  had  the 
handling  of  people  much  of  my  life,  have 
learned  to  recognize  power  when  I  see  it,  and 
[129] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  X 

I  see  it  in  you.  There's  just  naught  you  can't 
do  that  you  set  your  mind  to." 

None  ever  claimed  that  in  his  relation  with 
women  the  duke  was  afflicted  with  Pitcairn's 
trouble,  and  a  blue  heat  came  in  his  eye  at  her 
touch  of  him. 

"  You're  not  afraid  of  me,  Nancy  Stair?  " 

She  looked  up  at  him  from  under  her  eye 
lids  and  laughed. 

"  Not  the  least  bit  in  the  world,  your  grace." 

"And  ye  think,  mayhap,  that  just  because 
ye're  a  beautiful  woman — aye,  the  most  beauti 
ful  woman  I  have  ever  seen — that  ye  can  come 
to  me  and  ask  favors,  thinking  that  I  shall  ex 
pect  nothing  in  return? " 

"What  I  have  heard  of  you  would  lead  me 
far  from  such  conclusion,"  Nancy  answered, 
with  a  smile. 

He  looked  at  her  in  silence,  with  an  amused 
expression  in  his  face. 

"  I  like  you,"  he  said  at  length,  and  a  dare 
devil  look  came  into  his  eyes,  a  look  which 
showed  at  once  his  strength  and  his  weakness. 
"  I  like  your  fearlessness  as  well  as  your  hon 
esty.  I  can  mate  your  frankness  by  my  own.  I 
have  long  desired  to  know  what  is  said  of  me, 
[130] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIR 

and  have  a  mind  to  make  a  compact  with  you, 
if  you  will.  I  hear  lies  on  every  side.  They  are 
the  stuff  of  which  my  daily  bread  is  baked. 
Come,"  he  cried,  "  a  bargain  between  us.  The 
naked  truth  which  ye  have  heard  concerning  me 
in  return  for  the  pardon  of  Timothy  Lapraik." 

"  It's  a  bargain  between  us,  your  grace." 

"  There  will  be  no  slurring  over,  no  soft 
adjustments  1 " 

"  You  need  have  no  fear.  If  you  knew  me 
better  you  would  not  ask  that,"  Nancy  answered 
with  a  smile.  "  You  shall  have  the  unsoftened 
truth,  so  far  as  it  is  mine  to  speak." 

The  duke  motioned  her  to  a  seat  by  the  fire 
and  stood  opposite  to  her,  changing  the  candles 
on  the  shelf  above  to  throw  the  light  full  upon 
her  face  as  she  sat  before  the  fire. 

"  'Tis  an  awkward  position  you  put  me  in," 
Nancy  laughed. 

"  'Tis  grace  itself  compared  to  the  awkward 
ness  of  mine,"  the  duke  returned  with  a  dry 
smile. 

"  The  first  thing  I  ever  heard  of  you,"  she 
began,  "  was  that  you  were  known  by  common 
repute  as  the  '  Lying  Duke  of  the  Highlands.' " 

The  duke  bowed. 

10  [  131  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  X 

"  I  have  heard  from  high  and  low  that  you 
have  neither  the  code  of  a  gentleman  nor  the 
common  honesty  of  business  affairs.  It  is  even 
argued  that  you  have  not  the  moral  perception 
to  see  your  own  lack  in  such  matters." 

The  duke  looked  at  her  steadily  for  a  mo 
ment  again  and  his  lips  curled  back  into  a 
smile. 

"  You  are  openly  accused  of  thefts  in  India 
— of  defrauding  the  ignorant  natives  of  their 
lands." 

The  duke  made  a  little  outward  motion  with 
his  hand,  as  though  to  intimate  that  these 
charges  were  already  known  to  him. 

"  It  is  said — and  this  seems -to  me  one  of  the 
worst  charges — that  you  assail  the  names  of 
those  whose  places  you  desire  for  yourself  or 
your  friends,  under  cover,  and  in  ways  impos 
sible  for  them  to  circumvent." 

The  duke  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  if  this 
charge  were  one  of  small  moment. 

"  But  'tis  of  your  treatment  of  women  that 
the  worst  stories  of  you  are  abroad,  and  'tis  said 
that  your  conduct  toward  them  is  that  of  a 
brute  rather  than  of  a  man.  There  is  a  tale  of 
one  woman,  the  wife  of  a  baronet,  who  left  her 
[133] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIR 

husband  for  you,  and  whom  ye  after  deserted 
to  poverty  and  disgrace." 

She  paused  a  moment  and  turned  to  reca 
pitulate. 

"  Liar,"  she  said. 

The  duke  bowed  slightly. 

"  Thief." 

The  duke  bent  his  head  a  bit  lower. 

"  Def  rauder,  blackmailer,  and  betrayer  of 
women." 

The  duke  rose  and  made  a  profound  salu 
tation,  and  Nancy  regarded  him  with  a  smile. 

"  I  do  not  think  of  any  other  thing,"  she 
concluded;  and  then,  as  though  there  was  still 
hope  for  him,  "  I  have  never  heard  your  grace 
accused  of  open  murder." 

"  'Tis  strange,"  the  duke  answered  her  with 
a  queer  look.  "  I  have  enough  of  the  artist  in 
me  to  see  that  the  open  murder  would  have 
been  finely  climactic.  There  is  but  one  of  these 
charges  that  I  desire  to  deny  to  you,"  looking 
at  the  fire  through  his  eyeglass  as  he  spoke;  "  I 
don't  lie,"  he  said,  adding,  with  the  shadow  of 
a  smile,  "  I  don't  have  to.  And  may  I  ask,  Mis 
tress  Stair,  do  you  believe  these  things  of  me?  " 

Nancy  rose  and  looked  into  the  fire. 
[133] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  X 

"  I  like  you,"  she  answered. 

"  In  spite  of  my  crimes?  " 

"  Because  of  your  power,"  she  responded. 

They  stood  for  a  moment  regarding  each 
other  steadily  before  another  word  was  spoken. 

"  Ah,  my  lord,"  she  said,  "  I  must  be  going/' 
and  there  was  a  shade  of  regret  in  her  voice, 
which  Borthwicke  was  not  the  man  to  let  pass 
unnoticed,  "  I  have  kept  my  word." 

"  True,"  the  duke  answered,  "  you  have 
kept  your  word." 

"You  will  keep  yours  to  me?"  she  asked, 
extending  her  hand. 

"  By  this  time  to-morrow  Lapraik  shall  be 
a  free  man,"  the  duke  answered,  holding  the 
extended  hand  in  his. 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said,  and  another  silence 
fell  between  them  as  they  stood  thus,  nearer  to 
gether,  dominated  by  magnetic  attraction  so 
strong  that  a  full  minute  passed  unnoted  by 
either. 

"  It  is  my  turn  to  ask  favors,"  the  duke  said 
headily.  "  The  rose  in  your  breast." 

"  Shall  I  fasten  it  on  your  coat!  "  she  asked. 

So  for  a  moment  more  they  stood  almost 
touching  each  other,  his  breath  moving  the  curls 
of  her  hair  as  she  reached  toward  him. 
[  134  ] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY    STAIR 

"  Good  night,"  he  said,  extending  his  hand 
again. 

"  Good  night,"  she  said,  putting  hers  into  it. 

"  You  have  your  people  with  you?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  It  is  better  then  I  should  not  come  down?  " 

"Much  better,"  she  answered,  after  a  sec 
ond  ;  and  then,  turning  to  him :  "  You  are  com 
ing  to  the  Duchess  of  Gordon's?  " 

"I  had  intended  to  remain  away  till  I  saw 
you.  What  do  you  think  I  shall  do  now  ? "  his 
grace  asked. 

"How  should  I  know,  my  lord  duke?" 
Nancy  inquired,  with  a  smile. 

"  What  do  you  think  I  am  going  to  do 
now?"  he  repeated  with  insistence. 

"I  think  you  will   come  to  the  Gordons'," 
Nancy  answered  in  a  low  voice. 

"I  may  kiss  your  hand!"  the  duke  asked; 
and,  as  he  did  so,  the  act  having  in  it  more  of 
a  caress  than  a  salutation,  "Believe  me,"  he 
said,  "  I  could  not  stay  away." 


After  Nancy  and  Dandy  had  left  us,  Car- 
michael  and  I  sat  smoking,  and  by  reason  of 
the  talk  falling  along  some  interesting  lines  we 
[135] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  X 

arrived  at  the  Gordons'  long  past  the  time  set 
for  our  party  to  meet.  Nearing  the  house  we 
heard  the  music  of  the  fiddles  filling  the  air  with 
glee  and  sadness,  and  saw  the  caddies  darting 
hither  and  thither,  the  link-boys  with  their 
torches,  and  the  flare  of  lights  on  the  dazzling 
toilets  of  the  ladies  descending  from  their  chairs 
and  coaches.  My  own  position  in  Edinburgh 
society  was  stated  to  me  quite  by  accident,  as  I 
entered,  by  a  group  of  young  dandies  at  the  ball 
room  door,  who  made  way  for  me  with  a  pro 
nounced  salute  and  whispered: 

"  'Tis  her  father." 

Jane  Gordon  welcomed  me  with  a  gay  and 
genuine  friendship,  and  as  Sandy  and  I  made 
our  salutations  to  her  I  saw  Nancy  at  some  lit 
tle  distance  from  us,  literally  surrounded  by 
fatuous,  cipher-faced  youths,  who  stood  in  some 
awe  before  her  misty  beauty  and  reputed  power. 
There  was  pride  in  me  that  the  girl  was  mine, 
a  pride  which  Sandy  Carmichael  shared  with 
me,  and  as  Hugh  Pitcairn  crossed  the  long 
room  to  salute  her  gravely  but  with  marked  re 
spect,  I  saw  that  there  was  at  least  one  emotion 
which  they  held  in  common. 

Standing  by  the  great  window  soon  after 
[136] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY    STAIR 

my  arrival,  a  bit  removed  from  a  group  of  talk 
ing  persons  to  whom  I  was  giving  but  scant 
attention,  I  became  conscious  that  some  one  was 
addressing  me,  and  turned  to  find  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke,  his  hand  laid  lightly  on  my  shoul 
der,  his  countenance  of  baffling  serenity,  and  his 
voice  mellow  and  of  a  conciliating  quality.  He 
wore  gray  satin  of  an  elegant  finish,  but  neither 
embroidery  nor  jewels,  and,  notwithstanding 
his  position  and  power,  conveyed  the  impression 
in  some  adroit  way,  subtler  than  I  can  set  forth, 
that  he  deprecated  his  temerity  in  addressing  so 
austere  a  person  as  myself.  I  had  seen  women 
use  this  essence  of  flattery,  but  it  was  the  first 
time  I  ever  found  it  employed  by  a  man. 

"  Will  my  Lord  Stair  allow  me  to  introduce 
myself  to  him  ?  "  he  inquired,  with  a  smile,  ex 
tending  his  hand.  "  I  am  John  Montrose,  and 
there  are  many  reasons  why  we  should  deter 
mine  to  be  good  friends." 

"  We  are  both  Highland  folk,"  I  answered. 

"Which  is  one  excellent  reason,"  he  inter 
rupted;  "yet  there  are  several  more  moving 
than  that.  Your  father,  Lord  Stair,  and  mine 
were  out  together  in  the  forty-fives,  on  which 
side  I  need  scarcely  mention;  and  again,  your 
[137] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  X 

grandfather  and  mine  both  loved  and  fought 
for  the  beautiful  Nancy  Hamilton,  and,  but  for 
the  preference  of  the  lady  herself,  she  might 
have  been  my  own  grandmother.  These  things 
call  for  a  friendly  feeling  between  us,  Lord 
Stair,  but  that  which  drives  me  forward  most 
to  your  acquaintancy  is  the  admiration  I  have 
for  the  writings  of  your  daughter,  Mistress 
Nancy,  whose  lines  ring  through  my  head  moro 
often  than  I  care  to  tell,  and  whose  poems  have 
been  upon  my  writing-table  ever  since  they 
were  published." 

In  this  pleasant  way  we  fell  to  talk  of  Nancy, 
of  her  gifts,  her  beauty,  her  loving  tenderness 
for  all  things,  her  strange  up-bringing,  her 
people  on  the  Burnside;  and  to  a  doting  father 
such  as  I  was  the  time  flew  quickly  by. 

I  noted  at  length  that  there  was  some  stir  in 
the  circle  around  her,  and  watched  her  cross  the 
room  with  her  Grace  of  Gordon  and  Danvers 
Carmichael  in  attendance,  to  the  musicians' 
place  in  the  great  window. 

I  have  wondered  at  times  if  folk  who  dwell 

on  the  temptations  male  creatures  have  think 

ever  of  those  which  come  to  women  of  great 

attractiveness   to  men.     The  thought  came  to 

[138] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY    STAIR 

me  as  Nancy  took  her  place  beside  the  harp 
and  violins,  which  were  to  accompany  her  sing 
ing,  and  I  sent  a  prayer  to  Heaven  to  keep  my 
child  unspotted  from  the  world,  uttering  it  none 
the  less  fervently  because  his  Grace  of  Borth- 
wicke,  with  lids  veiling  the  fire  of  his  eyes,  was 
looking  at  her. 

Twice  she  sang,  her  songs  being  of  her  own 
land,  one  of  the  highlands,  with  the  perfume  of 
the  gorse  and  the  heather  in  the  lilt  of  it,  and 
the  second,  by  demand  of  Sandy,  the  gipsy 
song  which  had  been  handed  down  from  wood 
land  mother  to  woodland  child  for  hundreds  of 
years ;  a  song  which  sent  Nancy's  lawless  blood 
to  her  cheeks  and  set  her  heart  beating  with  an 
inherited  remembrance  of  raids  and  sea-fights, 
and  lawless  loves;  which  made  her  eyes  misty 
with  tears  and  unawakened  passion;  the  song 
which  I  had  learned  to  dread,  Marian's  song : 

"  Love  that  is  Life, 
Love  that  is  Death, 
Love  that  is  mine  " 

And  as  she  finished,  carried  off  her  feet  by  her 
own  feelings,  she  looked  toward  us  for  a  mo 
ment;  but  it  was  neither  upon  me  nor  Danvers 
Carmichael  that  the  look  fell;  for,  as  one  who 
[139] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  X 

knows  she  will  be  understood,  her  glance  turned 
to  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke,  whose  eyes  told  a 
tale  so  openly  that  he  who  ran  might  read.  I 
was  more  disturbed  by  this  occurrence  than  I 
cared  to  admit,  and  after  the  supper,  when  Nan 
cy,  attended  still  by  Danvers  Carmichael,  came 
back  to  us,  I  was  glad  to  hear  her  say  that  she 
wished  to  go  home.  His  Grace  of  Borthwicke 
being  still  near  us,  it  fell  upon  me  to  present 
Danvers  Carmichael  to  him,  an  introduction 
which  Dandy  acknowledged  by  a  perfunctory 
bow  and  scant  courtesy,  and  the  duke  by  turn 
ing  his  eyes  for  one  second  in  Dandy's  direction 
and  repeating  his  name  as  "  McMichael "  in  the 
exasperating  manner  of  one  who  neither  knows 
nor  cares  who  the  person  is  who  has  been  pre 
sented  to  him;  and  although  at  the  time  of  the 
murder  the  lawyers  tried  to  have  it  that  the 
acquaintance  between  these  two  men  was  of 
London  breeding,  I  can  vouch  for  it,  from  my 
own  knowledge  and  the  testimony  of  Danvers 
Carmichael  to  me  on  our  way  home,  that  this 
was  the  first  time  he  and  the  duke  ever  set  eyes 
on  each  other. 

In  just  the  manner  in  which  I  have  set  it 
forth,  in  the  compass  of  a  few  days,  the  three 
[140] 


CHAP.  X  NANCY   STAIE 

most  important  factors  in  Nancy's  life  came  to 
the  working  out  of  it,  Robert  Burns,  though 
but  by  book ;  Danvers  Carmichael,  a  gentleman ; 
and  that  splendid  devil,  John  Montrose,  Duke 
of  Borthwicke,  Ardvilarchan  and  Drumblaine  in 
the  Muirs. 


[141] 


CHAPTER   XI 

DANVEES   CARMICHAEL   MAKES   A   PROPOSAL, 

WHETHER  the  conduct  of  the  Duke  of  Borth- 
wicke  brought  a  climax  to  the  affairs  between 
Danvers  and  Nancy  I  can  not  state  for  a  surety, 
but  the  next  morning  as  I  sat  alone  on  the  south 
porch  the  boy  came  upon  me  with  some  sud 
denness. 

"  Lord  Stair,"  he  said,  "  it  is  with  my  fath 
er's  knowledge  and  pleasurable  consent  that  I 
come  to  ask  your  permission  to  have  Nancy  for 
my  wife,  if  she  can  fancy  me  as  a  husband." 

He  turned  very  white  as  he  spoke,  but  his 
bearing  was  manly  and  brave  as  that  of  his 
father's  son  should  be,  and  my  heart  went  out 
to  him. 

"  Sit  ye  down,  laddie,"  I  said,  "  sit  ye  down. 
We'll  have  a  smoke  together  and  talk  it  over. 
I'm  not  denying  that  I  like  you  for  the  two 
best  reasons  in  the  world.  The  first,  for  your 
self;  and  the  second,  that  ye're  your  father's 
[142] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY   STAIR 

son.  And  to  pretend  that  a  wedding  between 
you  two  children  would  not  give  me  the  great 
est  pleasure  in  life  would  be  idiot  foolishness. 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  you,  however,  as  well  as  to 
my  girl,  to  talk  the  thing  over  plainly.  Have 
you  any  notion  now,"  I  asked,  "  as  to  Nancy's 
feeling  toward  you  1 " 

"  None  whatever,"  he  answers,  gloomily 
enough. 

"  You've  not  questioned  her  in  any 
way " 

"  I'm  a  man  of  honor,  Lord  Stair,"  he  re 
sponded,  a  bit  in  the  air. 

"Well,  then,"  said  I,  "it  will  do  no  harm 
to  set  some  of  the  obstacles  before  you  that  you 
may  be  allowed  to  deal  with  the  situation  bare 
handed. 

"  Ye  must  see,  Dandy,  that  Nancy  Stair  is 
different  from  other  women  and  has  been  raised 
in  a  strange  way.  I'm  no  saying  it's  either  a 
good  way  or  a  bad.  I  am  saying  that  it's  far 
from  the  accepted  way  women  are  bred  up  gen 
erally.  It's  no  mere  talent  she  has — for  in  a 
woman  that's  not  harmful  and  frequently  helps 
to  entertain  the  children,  as  they  come  along; 
but  with  a  girl,  raised  by  men,  whose  name  is 
[143] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

ringing  throughout  the  kingdom,  who  baffles 
every  one  by  unfailing  love  and  kindness,  who 
has  only  the  religion  of  making  things  better 
for  others;  a  bit  of  a  coquette,  with  such  mag 
netism  that  one  wants  to  touch  her  as  one  does 
a  flower — I  tell  ye  frankly,  Danvers,  as  Pitcairn 
says,  she's  a  dangerous  contrivance  of  the  Al 
mighty's,  and  a  man  had  best  think  many 
times  before  he  takes  her  to  his  bosom  as  a 
wife." 

"It's  a  singular  state  of  affairs,"  Danvers 
answers,  with  a  short  laugh,  "  and  one  for 
which,  I  venture,  even  Nancy  could  find  no 
bookish  parallel.  You  tell  me  that  you'd  like 
me  for  a  son-in-law,  but  warn  me  against  your 
own  daughter  as  a  wife;  while  my  father  takes 
the  other  view  of  it:  that  he  would  like  Nancy 
for  his  daughter,  but  thinks  I'm  far  from  being 
the  one  suited  to  her  as  a  husband.  Parents  are 
not  usually  so  dispassionate,"  he  added,  some 
what  bitterly.  I  felt  for  the  lad,  and  took  a 
step  along  a  side  path. 

"  Ye're  both  over  young   as  yet,"   I   said, 

"  and  it's  been  less  than  a  month  since  ye've 

known  each  other."    And  it  was  here  that  I  had 

a  taste  of  his  fine  temper,  for  he  turned  upon 

[144] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

me  in  a  sudden  heat  that  made  him  splendid  and 
natural  to  the  eye. 

"  I  have  not  heard  that  my  Lord  Stair  was 
over-deliberate  in  his  own  wooing,"  he  said. 

I  laughed  aloud  as  he  glowered  at  me,  and 
put  my  hand  on  his  shoulder,  for  I  liked  his 
impetuous  ways  and  his  deil's  temper. 

"  There,  there,"  I  said,  "  gang  your  own 
gate.  I  but  wanted  ye  to  know  what  ye  might 
expect  in  a  wife.  She'll  contradict  ye— 

"  I  don't  want  a  wife  who  is  an  echo  of  my 
self,"  he  retorted. 

"  She's  jealous " 

"  I  wouldn't  give  a  groat  for  a  woman  who 
wasn't,"  he  responded. 

"  She  is  so  extravagant,"  I  went  on,  "  that 
I  never  let  even  Sandy  know  her  bills." 

He  made  no  answer  to  this  whatever,  as 
though  it  were  a  matter  beneath  discussion. 

"  She  will  forget  you  for  days  at  a  time 
while  she's  rhyme-making,"  I  went  on.  "  She 
will  be  interested  in  other  men  until  the  day 
she  dies — "  his  eye  darkened  at  this — "  and  to 
sum  it  up,  I  don't  know  any  woman  more  un- 
suited  to  you;  but  if  she  will  have  you,  you've 
my  consent,"  and  I  reached  out  my  hand  to  him* 
[145] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

"  God  bless  you,"  I  cried,  and  before  our  hands 
had  parted  Sandy  came  around  the  turn  of  the 
path. 

"  You've  done  just  what  I  knew  you'd  do, 
Jock  Stair,"  he  said,  glowering  first  at  his  son 
and  then  at  me,  "  and  ye  know  as  well  as  I  the 
foolishness  of  it.  Take  a  man  like  this  lad,  who 
has  been  spoiled  by  an  overfond  mother,  and  a 
woman  like  Nancy,  who  has  had  her  own  way 
since  birth,  marry  them  to  each  other,  and 
you've  a  magnificent  basis  for  trouble.  Why 
don't  you  marry  your  cousin  Isabel?  You'd 
thoughts  of  it  before  you  left  London ! "  he 
ended,  in  a  futile  way. 

"  I'm  going  to  marry  Nancy  Stair,  if  she'll 
have  me,"  Danvers  replied,  doggedly. 

"Well,  well,  she  may  not  have  you," 'Sandy 
replied,  soothingly.  "  And  as  she's  under  the 
lilacs  you  may  care  to  join  her." 

Nothing  passed  between  Danvers  and  Nancy 
on  the  subject  of  marriage  that  morning,  and 
I  found  at  luncheon  a  probable  explanation  of 
the  fact  by  reason  of  her  absorption  in  the 
labor  training  idea  and  the  building  of  an  ex 
tension  on  the  Burnside. 

Between  this  scheme,  her  talk  of  Robert 
[146] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

Burns,  her  interest  in  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke, 
and  an  absolute  and  unnatural  silence  concern 
ing  Danvers,  I  was  in  some  anxiety,  and  could 
come  to  no  conclusion  whatever  concerning  the 
state  of  her  feelings.  I  mentioned  Danvers' 
good  looks,  and  she  quoted  me  back  "  The  Cot 
ter's  Saturday  Night."  I  praised  his  conduct, 
and  she  answered  with  "  The  Epistle  to  Davie." 
It  was  the  name  of  Burns  that  was  constantly 
upon  her  lips;  she  set  his  verses  to  the  music 
of  eld  songs,  singing  them  softly  to  herself  in 
the  gloaming,  and  I  could  see  had  made  a  god 
of  him  by  her  own  imaginings. 

"That  Burns  book  was  a  bad  investment 
for  you,"  I  said  to  Danvers  one  evening. 

"  Why,"  says  he,  "  it's  naught  but  a  book! " 

"  True,"  I  answered,  "  but  the  maker  of  it 
is  a  man — and  she's  idealized  him  into  a  god. 
Ye  just  brought  trouble  for  yourself  when  you 
brought  that  volume  among  us,"  I  cried. 

To  the  best  of  my  recollection  it  was  about 
a  week  after  my  talk  with  Danvers  concerning 
a  marriage  between  them  that  the  three  of  us 
sat  at  the  dinner  together,  and  there  never  was 
a  more  bewitching  or  dangerous  Nancy  than  we 
had  with  us  that  night.  A  tender,  brilliant, 
11  f  147  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

saucy,  flattering  Nancy,  who  moved  us  male 
creatures  about  as  though  we  were  chessmen. 

"  Jock,  tell  about  the  old  minister  and  the 
goose,"  she  said.  "  There's  no  one  can  tell  that 
story  like  you." 

Or, 

"  Danvers,  do  you  recall  the  anecdote  of 
Billy  Deuceace  and  the  opera-singer?  It's  one 
of  the  best  jokes  I  ever  heard."  And  it  was 
after  the  laugh  that  followed  this  narration  that 
Danvers  said,  with  some  abruptness,  I  thought: 

"  We  had  bad  news  to-day.  The  Honorable 
Mrs.  Erskine  and  her  daughter  are  coming  to 
Arran.  My  father  invited  them  over  a  year 
ago,  and  had  forgotten  all  about  it  when  their 
letter  of  acceptance  came." 

"  Is  it  Isabel  Erskine  whom  your  father  ad 
vises  you  to  marry'?  "  Nancy  asked. 

"  It  is  the  very  same,"  Dandy  answered 
with  a  careless  laugh ;  "  and  I'm  warning  you 
you  are  to  have  a  rival  in  the  same  house  with 
me!" 

"Is  she  pretty!" 

"  She's  well  enough,"  he  replied  indiffer 
ently. 

"  I  believe,"  said  Nancy,  looking  through 
[148] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

her  wine-glass  far  off.  somewhere,  "  that  she'll 
suit  you  better  than  I." 

"  She  treats  me  better." 

"She  doesn't  write  verses?"  this  with  a 
glance  from  under  her  eyelids. 

"  She  does  not." 

"  Nor  think  her  own  way  always  the  best  f  " 

"  She's  very  sweet  and  yielding,  as  becomes 
a  woman,"  Danvers  answered  teasingly. 

"  She's  just  without  sin  at  all,"  Nancy  con 
tinued  with  apparent  dejection. 

"  Entirely,"  Danvers  returned  solemnly,  but 
with  a  laugh  shining  through  his  long  black 
lashes. 

"  Then  I'd  better  not  meet  with  her — I,  who 
have  so  many  failings." 

"  Have  you  failings!  "  Dandy  asked,  and  the 
teasing  tone  left  him.  "  I've  yet  to  find  them." 

And  at  this  Nancy  broke  into  a  laugh  so 
funny  and  contagious  that  the  two  of  us  joined 
with  her. 

"  Have  I  failings?  "  she  repeated.  "  That  I 
have !  And  so  many  'twould  be  a  day's  work  to 
name  them. 

"  Sometimes,"  she  began,  "  I  make  light  of 
other  folks'  religion  when  I  disagree  with  it — 
[149] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

and  that's  little  short  of  scandalous.  And  I 
belittle  the  people  whom  I  don't  like — and 
there's  no  breeding  in  that;  and  where  a  friend 
is  concerned  I'm  like  the  Stewarts,  '  Back  to 
back,  and  a  claymore  in  each  hand,'  and " 

"  Ye're  right  in  that,"  Danvers  and  I  broke 
in  like  a  chorus. 

"  And  sometimes,"  she  went  on,  and  the  hu 
mor  she  found  in  these  revelations  concerning 
herself  was  a  droll  thing  to  see,  "  sometimes  I 
use  bad  language — 

We  men  broke  into  a  roar  of  laughter  at  this. 

"  Once,  I  remember,"  she  said,  with  the 
gleam  in  her  eye,  "  I  danced  till  three  in  the 
morning  at  Peggy  MacBride's  wedding,  and 
getting  out  of  the  coach  twisted  my  arm  till  I 
thought  I'd  broken  it.  About  four  of  the  same 
morning  I  rose  with  a  raging  tooth,  and  cross 
ing  the  room  for  laudanum,  I  struck  the  elbow 
of  the  injured  arm  against  a  chest  of  drawers, 
and  before  I  thought  I  said— 

"  What?  "  Danvers  cried,  his  face  lit  up  with 
merriment. 

"  Nothing  will  ever  make  me  tell,"  she  said 
firmly,  "nothing!" 

"Whatever  it  was,  it  was  moderate.     You 
[1501 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

haven't  a  vocabulary  sufficient  for  that  situa 
tion,  Nancy  Stair,"  I  laughed. 

"  Then,  too,  Pm  no  respecter  of  family,"  she 
went  on,  as  though  set  for  complete  absolution. 
"  It's  mayhap  because  my  own  mother  was  an 
Irish  gipsy " 

"  Nancy !  "  Dandy  cried  with  amazement. 

"  She  was  so,"  Nancy  insisted,  "  and  the  pres 
ent  lord's  grandfather  was  a  strange  old  cummer 
who  ran  away  with  another  man's  wife " 

"Nancy!"  I  expostulated,  "Nancy,  you 
mustn't  talk  in  that  way  of  your  forbears " 

"  Why  not?  "  she  inquired. 

"It's  a  thing  ye  can't  explain,  my  dear ;  but 
it  just  isn't  done,"  Dandy  said. 

"  Is  it  not!  "  she  asked,  and  there  was  a  look 
in  her  eyes  of  amused  amazement.  "  Is  it  not? 
You  see,  I,  in  my  poor  blind  way,  can  not  un 
derstand  why  the  naming  of  a  thing  is  worse 
than  the  being  of  it — but  if  ye  say  it  is,  I'm 
amiable.  I'll  give  out  that  my  forbears  were 
all  kings  and  queens  of  the  Egyptians,  and  that 
I  ate  my  haggis  when  I  was  a  child  from  the 
seat  of  the  throne.  It  makes  no  difference  to 
me,  for  I'm  something  more  than  the  Laird  of 
Stair's  daughter." 

[151] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI ' 

"  Meaning  the  future  Countess  of  Glen- 
more,  mayhap !  "  I  suggested. 

"  I'm  not  meaning  any  such  thing,  and  it's 
perhaps  not  becoming  for  me  to  explain  what  I 
do  mean;  but  whether  I  say  it  of  myself  or  'tis 
said  of  me  in  the  Glasgow  Sentinel,  it  makes 
little  differ,  for  I  have  the  verse-making,  and 
'tis  more  to  me  than  lands  or  titles. 

"  Aye,"  she  said,  after  a  pause,  with  a  laugh 
as  though  making  fun  of  her  conceit  of  herself, 
"  I  have  the  genius— 

At  the  end  of  the  meal,  before  she  left  us, 
bewildered  by  her  vivacity  and  charm,  she 
stopped  at  the  door. 

"  Am  I  nice? "  she  asked. 

"Very,"  said  Danvers  and  I. 

"  And  will  ye  give  me,"  she  asked,  as  a  child 
might  have  done,  "the  thousand  pounds  for 
Father  Michel?" 

"  I  will  not,"  I  answered,  the  yielding  in  me 
showing  through  the  words. 

Danvers  saw  his  chance  and  took  it  with  the 
spur. 

"  I  will,"  he  said,  going  toward  her  to  open 
the  door,  but  it  looked  more  as  though  he  meant 
to  take  her  in  his  arms,  "  I  will,  Nancy." 
[152] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  softness  in  her 
eyes. 

"  Thank  you,  Danvers,"  she  said,  and  the 
glance  made  me  think  that,  even  did  I  allow  such 
a  manifest  impossibility,  he  could  never  have 
invested  money  in  any  way  to  bring  him  a 
richer  return. 

It  was  a  task  beyond  me  to  get  sensible  talk 
from  him  with  Nancy  waiting  in  the  moonlight, 
a  moonlight  fragrant  with  honeysuckle  and 
climbing  roses ;  and  I  bade  him  to  be  off  to  her ; 
and  I  opened  the  papers  which  had  come  by  a 
late  post. 

I  heard  a  merry  talk  between  them  as  Huey 
came  in  to  say  that  the  white  night-flowers  were 
in  bloom  by  the  fountain,  and  I  went  off  with 
him  to  have  a  look  at  them.  As  I  came  back  I 
turned  into  the  path  which  led  to  the  porch, 
intending  to  tell  them  of  these  wonderful 
blooms,  when  I  saw  the  two  of  them  on  the 
steps,  standing  near  together,  and  Danvers's 
arms  were  around  the  girl  he  loved,  and  he  was 
looking  down  into  her  eyes  with  rapture  in 
his  fond,  handsome  face,  and  I  heard  him 
say: 

"  When,  when,  when?  " 
[153] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  Xl 

"When  do  you  want  it? "  she  asked. 
"  When  do  I  want  it !    Now,  to-night,"  and 
he  drew  her  lips  to  his. 
"Wife!"  he  said. 

When  I  reentered  the  library  I  found  it 
occupied  by  Sandy,  who  had  walked  across 
country  from  his  own  place  with  some  news 
concerning  the  whisky  tax.  As  we  sat  in  dis 
pute  over  it,  upward  of  an  hour  later,  I  heard 
Nancy  go  to  her  room  without  coming  in  to 
wish  us  a  good  night,  and  a  second  later  Dan- 
vers  Carmichael  stood  in  the  doorway.  It  was 
good  for  us  older  men  to  see  the  lad,  and  at 
the  sight  of  him  I  was  out  under  the  stars  of 
Landgore;  the  sound  of  gipsy  singing,  the  salt 
from  the  sea,  and  the  odor  of  blown  hawthorn 
were  in  the  room,  and  I  was  young  again  with 
Marian  Ingarrach  folded  in  my  arms.  The 
brooding  look  was  gone  from  his  eyes  and  his 
face  bore  a  strange  illumination.  He  had  added 
something  to,  rather  than  lost  any  of  the  cock- 
sureness  of  his  manner;  but  the  happiness  of 
him,  combined  with  the  love  and  passion  of  his 
ardent  nature,  made  him  a  singularly  handsome 
creature  as  he  came  toward  us. 
[154] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY   STAIR 

"Will  you  not  congratulate  me?"  he  said, 
looking  from  one  to  the  other  of  us. 

"Is  she  willing  to  marry  you!"  his  father 
asked,  with  exaggerated  amazement. 

"  If  she  finds  none  whom  she  fancies  more, 
she  said  she  would  marry  me  within  the 
year— 

"Well,  well,  there's  some  hope  for  you," 
Sandy  went  on.  "  She  may  meet  in  with  some 
one  else." 

"  You've  my  pity,"  I  laughed,  but  I  took  his 
hand  in  mine  with  the  words. 

His  joy  radiated  itself  to  us,  and  his  talk 
was  just  as  it  should  be  for  his  years.  He 
patronized  us  a  bit  for  being  older  and  out  of 
the  way  of  it  all,  spoke  of  Nancy  as  though  she 
were  the  only  woman  since  Eve,  and  discussed 
a  betrothal  ring  as  though  it  were  a  thing  for 
empires  to  rise  and  fall  by. 

"  She  fancies  rubies ;  she  cares  for  gems, 
you  know,"  he  said,  as  though  the  information 
was  new  to  us  instead  of  having  been  anciently 
and  expensively  bought. 

He  must  have  the  best  ruby  in  Scotland,  he 
went  on.  He  wished  he  could  attend  to  the 
matter  himself.  "But,"  he  stood  with  his 
[155] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

thumbs  in  the  arms  of  his  waistcoat  as  he  spoke, 
with  a  conscious  smile — "  but  no  fellow  would 
be  such  a  bally  ass  as  to  dash  to  London  for  a 
ring  under  present  conditions."  There  were 
the  four  thousand  pounds  his  grandmother  had 
given  him.  They  might  all  be  spent  for  this. 
There  was  a  fellow  named  Billy  Deuceace,  an 
Oxford  man,  with  taste  in  such  matters.  He 
would  write  him  concerning  it  to-night,  he  said. 

"Faith,"  said  Sandy,  drolly,  "you  talk  as 
if  married  life  were  all  a  ring.  Ye'll  find  it 
different  when  your  wife  has  the  genius  and  is 
taken  up  wiy  other  men." 

And  Danvers  faced  the  two  of  us  here  by 
a  statement  which  has  never  left  me  from  the 
night  he  uttered  it  till  the  minute  of  my  setting 
it  down. 

"  I  am  far  from  believing,"  he  said,  "  that 
genius  is  a  thing  which  rightly  belongs  to 
women.  'Tis  to  me  but  an  issue  on  one  side. 
And  the  woman  who  has  enough  of  her  hus 
band's  kisses  and  his  babies  at  her  breast  has 
little  time  to  write  verses  or  think  of  other  men." 

With  these  words  still  ringing  in  my  ears  I 
rapped  at  Nancy's  door  on  my  way  to  bed, 
to  find  her  sitting  by  a  glaring  light  with  the 
[156] 


CHAP.  XI  NANCY    STAIR 

everlasting  Burns  book  in  her  hand.  I  was  a 
bit  dashed  in  spirit  by  her  occupation,  for  it 
seemed  unnatural  that  a  girl  should  be  spend 
ing  the  time  immediately  after  her  betrothal  in 
such  an  employ,  and  I  affected  a  gaiety  I  was 
far  from  feeling. 

"  Is  it  to  Nancy  Stair  or  the  possible  Coun 
tess  of  Glenmore  that  I  speak?  " 

She  stood  by  the  table,  her  finger  still  mark 
ing  her  place  in  the  book. 

"  Dandy  told  you,  then? "  she  asked. 

"  Told  us !  "  I  echoed.  "  It's  my  opinion 
he'll  tell  the  town-crier  to-night  and  have  it  in 
all  the  prints  of  the  realm  within  the  week." 

"  He  told  you  just  what  the  understanding 
was?" 

I  repeated  what  he  had  said,  and  she  nodded 
at  the  end  in  acquiescence. 

"  You  see,"  she  said,  coming  toward  me  and 
putting  her  head  on  my  shoulder,  "  I'm  not 
sure  of  myself.  My  mind's  ill  redd  up  for 
marriage  with  any  one.  I've  had  too  much 
freedom,  perhaps;  and  while  one  side  of  my 
nature,  probably  the  strongest  one,  loves  Dan- 
Vers  Carmichael,  I  am  drawn  to  the  writer  of 
these  lines,  this  Burns  man,  in  a  way  I  can  not 
[157] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XI 

tell;  and  at  the  very  foot  of  the  matter  I  am 
mightily  taken  up  with  the  power  of  John  Mon- 
trose.  It's  no  highly  moral,  is  it?"  she  asked, 
with  an  amused  smile,  "  to  feel  ye  could  be  in 
love  with  two — three  men  at  once?  But  my 
nature's  many  sided,  and  on  one  of  these  sides 
I  find  a  most  '  treacherous  inclination f  toward 
his  Grace  of  Borthwieke." 


[158] 


CHAPTER  XII 

I   MEET  A   GKEAT   MAN 

M  With  knowledge  so  vast  and  with  judgment  so  strong 
No  man  with  the  half  of  them  e'er  could  go  wrong; 
With  passion  so  potent,  and  fancies  so  bright, 
No  man  with  the  half  of  them  e'er  could  go  right. " 

I  PASSED  as  miserable  a  niglit  as  my  worst 
enemy  could  have  wished  and  was  up  at  the 
dawning  for  a  jaunt  in  the  open.  The  go  wans 
so  white  and  bonny  were  swinging  their  dewy 
heads  in  the  morning  wind;  the  sea-fog  was 
lifting  skyward,  and  whether  the  message  came 
from  them  I  can  not  say,  but  a  mystical  white 
word  floated  between  me  and  my  troubled 
thoughts  of  Nancy — a  word  which  means  the 
changing  of  baser  metal  into  pure  gold,  the  re 
turning  of  the  balance  to  nature,  the  fine  adjust 
ment  of  spirit  to  mind  and  body — the  great 
word  Motherhood.  Nancy  as  a  mother.  My 
Little  Flower  with  a  floweret  of  her  own  might 
be  the  solution  of  a  happy  marriage  for  her 
[1591 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XII 

more  than  compensating  for  the  independence 
and  adulation  which  she  had  always  had. 

As  I  tramped  along  I  came  to  a  definite 
thought  concerning  the  Burns  poems  as  well, 
which  was  that  I  would  set  fire  to  them,  as  if 
by  accident,  that  very  day,  and  have  them  by 
and  done  with.  And  as  for  the  man  himself,  it 
would,  I  thought,  be  no  hard  matter  to  keep 
him  out  of  our  lives ;  in  which  conclusions  I  left 
out  just  two  things — the  throw  of  Fate,  which 
none  of  us  can  reckon  upon,  and  my  own  rhyme- 
loving  nature  and  fondness  for  being  enter 
tained. 

It  was  Fate's  throw  with  which  I  had  to 
reckon  first.  I  had  come  in  my  musings  to  a 
side-path  which  led  from  the  old  Abbey  to  the 
foot-bridge,  when  I  heard  the  sound  of  a  man's 
singing : 

"  As  I  cam  in  by  Glenap, 

I  met  wi'  an  ancient  woman, 
Who  told  me  to  cheer  my  heart  up 
For  the  best  of  my  days  were  cominV 

The  singer  was  sitting  upon  a  fallen  tree, 

beside  a  smoking  fire,  with  the  women,  children, 

aye,  and  the  very  dogs,  gathered  about  him  as 

though  he  carried  a  charm.    He  was  a  thick-set 

[160] 


CHAP.  XH  NANCY    STAIR 

man,  dark  and  swarthy,  with  a  pair  of  eyes 
literally  glowing.  His  hat  was  cocked  upon  the 
back  of  his  head,  and  he  had  his  plaid  thrown 
around  him  in  a  certain  manner  known  to  him 
self  alone.  He  was  eating  and  drinking  with 
these  gipsy-folk,  for  he'd  a  bannock  in  one  hand 
and  a  mug  of  hot  drink  in  the  other,  but  at 
sight  of  me  he  set  them  down  and  came  for 
ward  to  greet  me;  and  my  amazed  eyes  rested 
on  Robert  Burns  himself,  as  though  raised  up 
by  some  of  his  own  witches  to  fit  into  my 
thoughts — Eobert  Burns  whom  I  had  met  at 
Mauchline  before  he  was  famous,  the  year 
before. 

He  inquired  if  I  were  stepping  townward, 
and  on  the  instant  I  asked  him  to  breakfast  with 
me  at  the  Star  and  Garter,  and  this,  you  will  re 
member,  within  five  short  minutes  of  my  resolve 
to  burn  his  book  and  keep  him  out  of  our  lives. 

It  was  charged  against  me  later  that  I  was 
lax  in  this  Burns  affair  and,  because  of  my  own 
infatuation  for  men  of  parts,  took  too  little 
thought  for  the  temptation  to  which  I  exposed 
my  daughter.  I  answer  the  accusation  by  tell 
ing  the  circumstances  exactly  as  they  fell,  and 
he  who  reads  may  judge  the  truth  of  these 
[161] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XII 

charges  for  himself.  As  we  came  to  the  door 
of  the  inn,  I  asked  Creech  and  Dundas,  who 
happened  to  be  passing,  to  join  us  at  the  break 
fast,  and  a  merry  feast  it  was,  and  one  for  the 
three  of  us  to  hold  as  a  lifelong  memory,  for 
only  those  who  had  the  honor  to  know  Burns 
could  understand  that  the  "  best  of  him  was  in 
his  talk."  In  the  year  of  which  I  write  all  the 
eyes  of  Edinburgh  were  fixed  upon  him,  and 
his  toasts,  his  epigrams,  his  love  affairs  were 
the  scandal  of  the  town  and  his  own  country 
side.  There  was  some  flouting  of  him  at  this 
very  meal,  I  recall,  by  Creech,  who  was  deep  in 
his  affairs,  concerning  a  Mauchline  lassie  who 
had  thrown  his  love  back  at  him  with  some  vio 
lence  and  scandal;  but  he  was  not  in  the  least 
dashed  either  by  the  event  or  the  naming  of  it, 
and,  seizing  a  glass,  he  called  out,  with  the 
j  oiliest  laugh  in  the  world: 

"  Their  tricks  and  crafts  hae  put  me  daft, 

They've  ta'en  me  in — and  a'  that, 
But  clear  your  decks!  and  here's  '  The  Sex,' 
I  like  the  jades  for  a'  that," 

the  applause  which  greeted  this  sally  bringing 
the  servants  to  the  window,  though,  in  fact, 

[1631 


CHAP.  XII  NANCY    STAIE 

when  it  was  known  that  Burns  was  in  the  house 
there  was  no  keeping  them  out  of  the  room. 

I  do  not  feel,  even  at  this  late  day,  that  I 
need  an  excuse  for  the  admiration  I  have  of 
Burns,  the  greatest  poet,  in  my  judgment,  who 
ever  lived.  I  knew  his  faults,  if  faults  they 
were,  but,  before  God,  I  knew  his  temptations 
as  well,  and  can  speak  with  greatest  thankful 
ness  of  one  he  put  behind  him. 

Pastor  Muirkirk,  of  the  New  Light,  in  one 
of  his  more  relaxed  moments,  said  to  me : 

"  The  Lord  cast  seven  devils  out  of  the  man 
in  the  scriptures  because  his  nature  was  big 
enough  to  hold  seven  devils.  Most  of  us,  lad 
die,"  he  went  on,  "  are  not  big  enough  to  hold 
half  a  devil,"  which  explains  the  thought  I  have 
of  Burns  to  a  nicety,  for  it  was  surely  the  very 
bigness  of  his  nature,  the  instant  sympathy 
with  all  who  lived,  which  brought  many  of  the 
troubles  to  him  for  which  he  has  been  greatly 
blamed.  But  this  can  be  said  of  him:  that  no 
man  I  ever  knew,  from  the  highest  lord  in  the 
land  down,  presented  himself  to  the  world  in  a 
saner  or  more  balanced  manner.  I  have  known 
him  to  breakfast  with  tramps  at  an  ale-house 
in  the  morning,  walk  arm  in  arm  with  a  duke 
12  [  163  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XII 

down  High  Street  in  the  afternoon,  and  leave 
him  perchance  to  dine  with  some  poor  country 
acquaintance  up  from  Ayr  for  a  day's  buying. 

It  was  after  Creech  and  his  friend  had  left 
us  that  Burns  turned  toward  me. 

"  There  is  a  matter  upon  which  I  am  unde 
cided  whether  it  is  good  taste  for  me  to  speak 
to  you,  Lord  Stair,"  he  said,  "  but  there  is  such 
sincerity  of  admiration  at  the  root  of  it  that 
ye'll  can  just  be  forgiving  me  if  I  trespass  on 
your  sense  of  the  proprieties.  'Tis  of  your 
daughter,  Mistress  Stair.  I  was  carried  off  my 
feet  by  her  singing  at  the  charity  ball,  and  the 
verses  she  writes  are  as  unstudied  as  the  song 
of  a  lark.  But  she  will  never  write  a  poem  that 
is  so  great  as  herself.  All  her  accomplishments 
seem  to  me  but  a  set  of  warbles  or  trills  to  the 
true  song  of  her  great  womanhood.  '  Where 
she  is,'  "  he  quoted  prettily,  "  '  man  will  be  more 
than  his  wont,  because  of  her  belief.' " 

And  at  these  words  my  resolutions  were 
clean  forgotten  in  my  pride  in  his  praises  of 
her. 

"  She  wants  to  know  you,  Mr.  Burns.  Your 
book  is  by  her  day  and  night,"  I  cried,  at  which 
he  looked  flattered,  but  said  he  was  for  Ayr  that 
[164] 


CHAP.  XII  NANCY    STAIR 

afternoon,  and  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaintance 
with  her  must  be  put  by  until  some  later  date. 

I  told  him  at  this  that  a  friend  had  invited 
us  down  to  his  part  of  the  country  for  the  fair, 
where  we  might  meet  again,  on  which  he  took 
a  slip  from  his  pocket,  putting  his  Edinburgh 
address  on  one  side  of  it,  like  this : 

"It  is  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Carfrae,  Baxter  Close,  Town 
market :  first  scale-stair  on  the  left  hand  going  down ;  first 
door  on  the  stair," 

and  on  the  other: 

"  To  Mistress  Nancy,  Mistress  Stair, 
At  Mauchline  race  or  Mauchline  fair, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  meet  you  there. 
We'll  give  one  night's  discharge  to  care, 

If  we  forgither, 
And  have  *  a-swap-of -rhyming- ware,' 

With  ane  anither." 

And  it  was  this  "  swap  o'  rhyming  ware  "  which 
brought  about  the  tragedy  toward  which  I  draw. 


[165] 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   DUKE   VISITS   STAIR   FOE   THE   FIRST   TIME 

ON  my  return  to  Stair  I  found  Nancy  on 
the  south  steps  with  a  letter  in  her  hand.  In 
her  white  frock,  with  her  hair  bobbing  in  a 
bunch  of  curls  on  the  top  of  her  head,  she 
looked  scarce  older  than  the  day  I  had  found 
her  there  "  making  verses  "  years  agone. 

"  You  went  away,"  she  said,  with  reproach 
in  her  tone. 

"  Guess  whom  I  fell  in  with,"  I  answered. 

She  hesitated  a  minute. 

"  Robin,"  said  I. 

"  Robin  who  I  "  she  inquired. 

"Who  but  Robin  Burns!" 

"  Oh,  did  ye?  "  she  cried,  her  face  aglow  on 
the  instant;  "did  ye,  Jock!  Why  didn't  ye 
bring  him  back  with  ye? " 

"  He's  for  Ayr  this  afternoon,"  I  answered ; 
"  but  he  sent  a  word  to  ye,"  and  I  gave  her  the 
card  in  Burns'  own  hand. 
[166] 


CHAP.  XIII  NANCY    STATE 

"  That's  funny,"  she  said,  putting  it  in  the 
bosom  of  her  gown,  and  she  went  on  after  a  bit 
of  musing,  "  if  he  swap  his  rhyming  ware  for 
mine  it  will  be  a  losing  bargain  for  him." 

Before  I  had  time  to  answer,  Dandy  Car- 
michael  came  in  view  with  a  troop  of  dogs  at 
his  heels,  and  at  sight  of  him  I  recalled  an  ar 
rangement  made  the  evening  before  to  have  a 
tea  drinking  on  the  lawn,  and  that  he  was  bid 
den  to  luncheon  to  help  with  the  cards  of 
invitation. 

The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  with  pen  and 
ink  and  address  books,  and  this  jostle  of  cir 
cumstance  put  the  Burns  meeting  out  of  my 
mind  entirely,  nor  did  I  mention  it  to  Danvers 
one  way  or  another,  which  turned  out  to  be  a 
more  unfortunate  occurrence  than  I  can  tell. 

On  the  day  set  for  the  festivity  Danvers 
came  early,  with  the  Arran  grooms  behind  him 
carrying  flowers  from  the  conservatories  for 
the  decoration  of  the  great  hall,  and  all  of  the 
morning  the  house  was  filled  with  gay  young 
voices  and  merry  preparations  for  the  enter 
tainment  of  friends.  Stands  of  scarlet  droop- 
ers  were  set  on  the  porch,  the  hot-house  flowers 
being  placed  against  the  tapestry  and  the  old 
[167] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIII 

armor;  bowls  of  drink  were  brewed  and  set  to 
cool,  and  two  o'clock  found  Dame  Dickenson  in 
sober  black  silk,  with  a  canny  eye  for  the  re 
freshments,  and  myself  in  black  as  well,  and  a 
state  of  what  might  be  described  as  pleasurable 
anxiety. 

Dandy's  last  words  to  Nancy  before  leaving 
to  bring  the  Erskines  back  with  him  were  these : 
"You  are  to  look  your  very  best;  I  desire  the 
Hon.  Mrs.  Erskine  struck  mute  with  admira 
tion,"  and  when  she  came  down  the  stairs  I 
could  but  think  that  she  had  taken  his  counsel 
to  heart,  whether  because  she  was  to  meet  "  her 
rival,"  as  she  laughingly  called  Isabel  Erskine, 
or  by  reason  of  the  expected  presence  of  his 
Grace  of  Borthwicke,  I  was  far  from  deciding. 

She  wore  a  huge  black  hat  and  a  black  lace 
gown,  with  a  kerchief  tied  in  front  and  falling 
near  to  the  ground.  Her  gloves  were  black  as 
well,  coming  almost  to  the  shoulder,  her  only 
touch  of  color  being  a  cluster  of  roses  in  the 
knot  of  lace  upon  her  bosom. 

"  How  handsome  you  are,  Jock  Stair,"  she 
said,  coming  toward  me.    "  How  handsome  you 
are!     I  did  well  when  I  selected  you  for  a 
father,"  she  finished  with  a  laugh. 
[168] 


CHAP.  XIII  NANCY    STAIR 

The  Arran  party  were  among  the  first  to 
arrive,  and  in  spite  of  the  restless  character  of 
the  entertainment  I  found  time  for  a  short  talk 
with  Isabel  Erskine,  a  modishly  attired,  fair 
girl,  with  round  blue  eyes  and  many  meaning 
less  phrases,  for  which  I  saw  no  necessity.  She 
had  one  sincere  emotion  in  her  life,  however; 
one  which  she  took  small  pains  to  conceal,  and 
this  was  an  infatuation  for  Danvers  Carmi- 
chael. 

It  was  he  who  presented  the  two  young 
women  to  each  other,  and  I  noted  with  pride 
the  bearing  of  my  daughter  at  this  meeting,  for 
she  was  genuinely  glad  to  meet  Miss  Erskine, 
and  with  much  gentleness  and  gravity  explained 
the  reasons  which  had  prevented  her  from  com 
ing  over  the  day  before  to  pay  her  respects. 
Isabel,  who  was  not  at  her  ease,  responded  that 
Danvers  had  told  them  how  busy  every  one  was 
at  Stair,  and  that  the  omission  of  a  visit  on 
Nancy's  part  was,  under  the  circumstances,  but 
natural. 

That  Isabel  Erskine  did  not  like  Nancy  I 

knew  on  the  instant  I  saw  them  together,  and 

that  Nancy  was  unaware  of  it,  and  would  have 

cared  nothing  about  her  dislike  had  she  known 

[169] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIII 

of  it,  was  a  thing  of  which  I  was  equally 
certain. 

The  pretty  picture  of  the  gaily  gowned 
ladies  with  their  furbelows  and  parasols  in 
shifting  groups  under  the  beeches,  the  sunlight 
falling  through  the  leaves  in  broken  golden 
shapes  upon  the  shining  silks  and  satins  of  the 
dresses,  the  merry  chatter  of  the  younger  folk 
and  the  more  demure  coquetry  of  the  older 
ones,  are  still  a  pleasant  picture  in  my  memory 
of  that  far-by  day. 

Upon  a  demand  from  some  of  the  guests  to 
see  the  "  lace  school,"  and  the  labor  teaching  as 
well,  Danvers  took  it  on  himself  to  act  as  con 
ductor  of  these  merry  inquisitive  parties,  and 
the  wonder  and  interest  of  the  ladies  in  the 
school  was  remarkable  to  see;  and  I  recall  now 
that  Mrs.  Opie  made  her  first  visit  to  the  burn 
that  afternoon,  and  within  a  month  had  planned 
her  written  work  concerning  it. 

It  was  nearly  four  before  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke  arrived,  Hugh  Pitcairn  and  Sir  Pat 
rick  Sullivan  coming  with  him,  unannounced, 
through  the  west  entrance. 

His  grace  looked  younger  than  he  did  at  the 
time  of  our  last  meeting ;  but  his  eyes  were  the 
[170] 


CHAP.  XIII  NANCY    STAIR 

same;  misty,  unholy,  and  bland.  He  wore  gray 
cloth  of  the  same  accented  plainness,,  and  from 
the  time  of  his  entrance  stood  with  his  head  un 
covered  in  an  attitude  of  great  deference  to  the 
women-folk;  a  bearing  which  accorded  poorly 
with  the  tales  afloat  concerning  the  manner  of 
his  private  life. 

To  us,  who  for  the  most  part  knew  London 
but  by  name,  the  bearing  of  this  celebrated  per 
sonage  was  a  matter  for  interest  and  study, 
and  if  it  were  in  my  power  to  set  him  forth 
as  he  showed  himself  to  us  that  day  there 
would  be  none  of  fair  judgment  who  could 
blame  Nancy  for  her  conduct  toward  him  after 
word.  I  can  affirm  that  never  from  the  moment 
that  his  eyes  fell  on  her  did  he  remove  them 
from  her  face.  He  was  accosted  by  several 
gentlemen  in  his  progress  toward  us,  but  it 
was  with  a  fixed  glance  of  absorbed  admira 
tion  of  her  that  he  answered  them,  curtly,  as 
I  thought,  and  as  one  who  brooks  no  interrup 
tion. 

Crossing  the  space  toward  us  he  came  alone, 
the  forward  poise  of  the  body,  and  more  than 
all  the  power  of  his  head  and  chest,  fixing  the 
idea  I  already  had  of  a  splendid  kind  of  devil 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIII 

who  would  make  ill-fortune  for  any  who 
crossed  him. 

"It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  see  you  again," 
he  said,  bowing  low  before  Nancy. 

"  You  have  been  away  a  long  time,"  she  an 
swered. 

"  The  longest  month  that  I  have  ever  spent," 
he  returned. 

"  The  Highlands  were  not  merry? "  she 
asked. 

"  I  had  no  heart  for  them." 

"  No?  "  she  said.    "  I  am  sorry." 

"  I  should  rather,  were  it  mine  to  choose, 
that  you  were  glad  to  have  me  find  them  dull," 
he  answered. 

"Would  that  be  quite  friendly?"  she  in 
quired,  with  a  smile  of  intentional  misunder 
standing. 

"  I  am  scarce  asking  for  friendship,"  he  re 
turned,  and  there  was  no  mistaking  the  intent 
of  either  word  or  eye. 

"By  the  way,"  he  continued,  "I  have  rid 
den  half  over  Scotland  and  laid  by  four  horses 
to  be  here  this  afternoon ;  for  which,"  he  added, 
with  the  little  outward  wave  of  his  hand  which 
became  him  so  well,  "  I  am  claiming  no  merit ; 
[172] 


CHAP.  XIII  NANCY    STAIR 

for  is  there  a  man  who  knows  you  who  would 
have  done  otherwise?  " 

A  look  passed  between  them,  a  look  which 
I  was  at  a  complete  loss  to  understand,  as  she 
answered,  with  a  laugh: 

"I  think  Mr.  Pitcairn  might  successfully 
have  struggled  with  the  temptation  of  laming 
horses  to  see  me." 

"  But,"  the  duke  retorted,  "  as  you  told  me 
yourself  on  that  memorable  night  we  first  met, 
'  Pitcairn's  not  rightly  a  man ;  he's  just  a 
head.' " 

"  In  many  ways,"  responded  Nancy,  and  her 
eyelids  drooped  at  her  own  audacity,  "  in  many 
ways  he  reminds  me  of  you,  your  grace ! " 

The  duke  smiled  back  at  her  with  a  little 
drawing  together  of  the  eyelids,  which  I  had 
learned  to  know  so  well. 

"I  have,"  he  said,  "nearly  a  fortnight  to 
spend  in  Edinburgh,  in  which  I  shall  make  it 
the  effort  of  my  life  to  show  you  the  difference 
between  us." 


[173] 


CHAPTER   XIV 

NANCY   MEETS    HER   RIVAL 

IT  was  the  morning  after  the  outdoor  party 
that  Danvers  came  into  the  breakfast-room  with 
a  pleasant  excitement  showing  in  his  face. 

"  IVe  a  present  for  you,"  he  said,  going  over 
to  Nancy,  who  had  not  left  the  table, 

"  For  me?  "  she  asked. 

"For  you — though  I'm  far  from  sure  that 
you  deserve  it,  for  if  there's  a  man  in  Edin 
burgh  this  morning  whom  ye  haven't  in  love 
with  ye,  he's  blind.  However,"  he  laughed, 
"  we'll  waive  that,"  and  he  took  a  box  from  his 
pocket  and  held  it  above  his  head. 

"  Will  ye  kiss  me  for  it? "  he  cried. 

"  I  will  not,"  said  she  decisively. 

"  Then  you  sha'n't  have  it,"  he  said  with 
great  determination,  moving  as  though  to  put 
it  in  his  pocket. 

"I'll  go  and  write  some  letters,  then,"  she 
remarked  calmly,  starting  toward  the  door. 
[174] 


CHAP.  XIV  NANCY    STAIR 

Afraid  of  losing  her  society  for  the  morn 
ing,  mayhap,  he  put  the  box  on  the  table  and 
pushed  it  toward  her. 

It  was  a  small  silver  case,  strong  and  firm, 
with  a  smaller  box  of  white  velvet  inside,  in 
which  lay  a  ruby  ring — a  gem  for  which  men 
commit  crimes  and  women  sin;  a  gorgeous, 
sparkling,  rosy  stone,  sending  rainbow  spots 
upon  the  wall,  and  rendering  Nancy  radiant  and 
speechless  as  she  slipped  it  on  her  finger. 

"Is  it  for  me,  Dand? "  she  asked,  almost  in 
a  whisper. 

"For  whom  else  would  it  be,  Little  Girl?" 
he  answered,  and  the  delight  he  had  in  her 
pleasure  was  a  beautiful  and  husband-like  thing 
to  see. 

"But  why!"  she  asked.  "Can  I  take  it 
from  him,  Jock  Stair  1  "  she  said,  turning  to  me 
suddenly. 

"  A  woman  can  surely  take  a  gift  from  her 
future  husband  with  no  impropriety,"  I  an 
swered. 

"  That's  true,"  she  said ;  "  but  you  see  there 

is  no  betrothal  between  us,  and  at  the  year's 

end  I  might  have  to  send  it  back  for  some  other 

woman  to  wear,  which  would  go   far  toward 

F  175] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XlV 

bringing  me  to  my  grave.  I  am  afraid  I  can't 
take  it  yet,  Danvers." 

"  Wear  it,"  he  answers.  "  If  ye  can't  wear 
it  as  my  betrothed  wife,  wear  it  in  sign  that  I 
love  you.  Lord  Stair  hears  that  I  hold  it  as 
token  of  nothing  save  my  own  love  for  you. 
If  it  gives  you  pleasure,  Nancy,  it's  all  I  ask." 
At  which  she  did  the  thing  least  expected  of 
her  by  putting  her  head  suddenly  down  on  her 
hands  and  bursting  into  a  flood  of  tears. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  "  these  things  are  just 
putting  me  out  of  my  mind.  I  wish  I  was  in 
Heaven,  where  there  is  no  marrying  or  giving 
in  marriage ! " 

There  was  one  point  gained,  however,  for 
she  wore  the  ring;  and  with  it  upon  her  finger 
Danvers  could  never  be  kept  long  from  her 
thoughts. 

At  luncheon  of  this  same  day,  old  Janet 
McGillavorich,  from  Mauchline,  whom  Nancy 
ranked  the  chiefest  of  all  her  female  friends, 
surprised  us  by  a  visit.  She  was  a  far-removed 
cousin  of  Sandy's,  who  was  constantly  back  and 
forth  between  her  own  home  and  Edinburgh  by 
reason  of  her  everlasting  lawing. 

It  seems  that  her  father  had  left  her  some 
[176] 


CHAP.  XIV  NANCY    STAIR 

property,  and  by  the  advices  of  Hugh  Pitcairn 
she  had  turned  this  to  great  advantage,  owning 
bits  of  land  all  over  Scotland,  from  Solway  side 
to  John  o'  Groats. 

She  was  a  masculine-looking  female,  with 
hair  of  no  particular  shade  parted  over  a  face 
very  red  in  color,  and  with  high  cheekbones  and 
small  gray  eyes  set  at  an  angle  like  the  Chinese 
folks.  She  was  above  sixty  years  of  age  at  this 
time,  with  a  terrible  honesty  of  conduct,  great 
violence  of  language,  and  carried  things  with  a 
high  hand  wherever  she  went. 

Having  heard  of  Nancy  from  Hugh  Pit- 
cairn  four  or  five  years  before  this,  she  had  de 
manded  to  make  her  acquaintance,  upon  which 
Hugh  fetched  her  over  to  tea  one  afternoon, 
and  from  that  time  forth  she  bore  an  unending 
grudge  against  me,  that  Nancy  was  not  her  own. 

"  And  so  ye  write,"  she  had  asked  at  this 
first  interview ;  "I  never  read  anything  ye 
wrote,  but  I'm  glad  to  meet  in  with  any  woman 
who  has  an  aim  '  beyond  suckling  fools  and 
chronicling  small-beer.'  But  ye  must  be  careful 
what  ye  write,  my  dear,"  she  went  on,  "  or  ye'll 
have  the  whole  female  population  of  Scotland 
clattering  after  ye.  Be  orthodox,  and  never 
[177] 


NANCY    STAIK  CHAP.  XIV 

trifle  with  tales  concerning  the  seventh  com 
mand.  Stick  to  rhymes  like  '  fountain  and  moun 
tain  '  and  '  airy  and  fairy/  and  such  like  things ; 
for  ye'll  find  that  the  women  who  tell  tales  that 
would  make  ye  blush,  who  lead  dissolute,  un 
thinking  lives,  who  deceive  their  husbands,  and 
smell  themselves  up  with  Lily-of-the- Valley-wa 
ter  when  they  go  to  the  kirk,  will  be  the  hardest 
upon  ye  if  ye  stray  from  any  accepted  thought. 
They  require  the  correctest  thinking  in  print 
ye  know ! " 

I  never  saw  Nancy  more  pleased  with  ary 
human  being  than  with  this  fire-eating  old  lady ; 
and  when  Janet  finished  her  discourse  by  the 
statement,  "  God  be  praised !  I  never  read 
poetry.  Shakespeare  sickened  me  of  that. 
This  thing  of  not  saying  right  out  what  you 
mean  turns  my  stomach.  Padding  out  some 
lines  to  make  them  a  bit  longer,  and  chopping 
off  ends  of  words  to  make  others  shorter,  ought 
to  be  beneath  any  reasoning  creature."  Nancy 
put  her  head  on  the  table  and  laughed  until  I 
was  afraid  she  would  make  herself  ill. 

It  was  after  the  luncheon,  while  Janet  was 
still  with  us,  that  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Erskine  and 
her  daughter  came  to  pay  us  a  visit  of  congrat- 
[178] 


CHAP.  XIV  NANCY    STAIR 

illation  on  the  success  of  our  entertainment. 
Danvers  had  gone  off  to  walk,  and  so  it  fell 
upon  the  three  of  us  to  receive  these  visitors 
in  the  music-room,  where  we  were  having 
tea. 

The  elder  lady,  whom  Sandy  insisted  had 
come  to  Edinburgh  to  marry  me,  was  an  inten 
tional  female,  with  much  hair,  much  rouge,  and 
a  pallor  heightened  by  rice-powder,  which  gave 
her  a  very  floury  and  unclean  appearance.  Her 
eyes  were  an  indescribable  color,  resembling  the 
pulp  of  a  grape,  and  near-set,  a  thing  which  I 
have  never  been  able  to  abide  in  man,  woman, 
or  child.  Her  nose  was  long  and  peaked,  and 
her  mouth  dropped  at  the  corners.  But  it  was 
the  strange  set  of  her  whole  figure  which  struck 
my  notice  again  and  again.  For  she  was,  to 
use  a  lumbering  expression,  all  in  front  of  her 
spine,  with  neither  backward  curve  to  her  head, 
nor  her  shoulders  nor  hips,  which  gave  her  a 
peculiarly  unpliable  appearance.  Her  voice 
was  high  and  of  a  singular  penetrating  quality, 
and  she  had  an  over-civil  manner  to  us,  as  of 
one  who  has  something  to  gain.  Her  gown,  of 
blue,  had  many  strange  kinds  of  trimming 
which  seemed  both  needless  and  inexpressive, 
13  [179] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  llV 

and  what  with  the  rouge  and  the  chains  and 
hangings  around  her  neck,  she  reminded  me  of 
nothing  so  much  as  a  grotesque  figure  for  a 
Christmas-tree  decoration. 

When  it  be  added  to  all  of  this  that  she  had 
a  fearful  habit  of  emphasizing  certain  words  in 
a  senseless  and  flippant  style,  and  of  waving  a 
lace  kerchief  constantly,  after  the  manner  of  a 
flag,  it  may  be  imagined  with  what  joy  I  rel 
ished  her  society. 

"  Ah !  "  she  said,  "  you  are  alone  after  the 
party.  What  a  success  it  was !  A  positive  tri 
umph,  positive!  Isabel  and  I  had  been  told 
how  delightful  Edinburgh  society  was,  but  we 
were  not  prepared  for  the  gaiety  we  found.  It 
was  charming!  Positively  charming!  And 
how  beautiful  you  looked,  my  dear,"  she  went 
on,  turning  to  Nancy.  "  Of  course  we'd  heard 
of  you — every  one  in  any  society  at  all  has 
heard  of  you,  you  know;  but  youVe  such  style, 
my  dear — positively  the  belle-air,  positively! 

"  I  know  you're  pleased  to  hear  how  your 
daughter  is  adored,  aren't  you,  Lord  Stair? 
It's  what  I  say  to  the  dear  duchess  (the  Duchess 
of  Mont  Flathers,  you  know — we're  just  like 
sisters!).  '  Maria,'  I  say  to  her,  'of  course  I 
[180] 


CHAP.  XIV  NANCY    STAIR 

am  pleased  to  have  Isabel  the  rage,  as  she  is 
— it's  only  natural,  she  being  my  daughter,  that 
I  should  feel  so.'  I  am  enchanted  at  all  the 
attention  she  receives,  and  at  the  way  men  rave 
over  her.  It's  a  mother's  feeling.  One  night, 
I  recall,  when  Danvers  Carmichael  had  posi 
tively  compromised  Isabel  by  his  attentions,  for 
he's  always  after  her,  the  dear  duchess  said 
to  me: 

"  l  Anne,  this  is  going  too  far ! '    And  I  said : 

" '  Dearest,  it  may  be ;  but  I  have  no  heart 
to  stop  them.  They  both  look  so  happy.'  And 
the  duchess  replied: 

"  '  Anne,  your  feelings  do  you  credit ;  and  I 
think  it's  so  sweet  and  womanly  to  be  so  honest 
about  it.' 

"  '  We  naturally  like  to  have  our  children 
beloved,'  I  answered,  stiffly. 

"That's  just  what  I  say  all  of  the  time!" 
she  went  on,  as  though  some  one  might  stop  her 
by  a  speech  of  his  own.  "  Just  what  I  say,  Lord 
Stair;  both  to  Alexander  Carmichael  and  his 
son.  How  beautiful,  how  very  beautiful  the 
friendship  between  you  is.  And  between  your 
children  as  well!  Danvers  is  quite  like  a 
brother  to  your  daughter,  isn't  he? 
[181] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP. 


"  I  really  believe  —  now  don't  contradict  me," 
she  said,  waving  her  handkerchief  at  her  daugh 
ter.  "I  really  believe  that  Isabel  was  inclined 
to  be  jealous  yesterday.  Danvers  has  always 
been  so  devoted  to  her  —  always,  since  she  was 
quite  a  little,  little  girl;  and  I  am  afraid  —  just 
a  tiny  morsel  afraid  —  that  it  was  hard  for  her 
to  share  him. 

"  Not  that  you  were  to  blame,  dearest,"  she 
said,  turning  to  Nancy,  "  not  the  very  least  bit 
in  the  world.  It  was  quite  plain  who  claimed 
your  time!  Quite  plain!  His  Grace  of  Borth- 
wicke  is  positively  the  most  fascinating  creature 
I  ever  saw  —  positively.  We  never  can  get  him 
in  London  at  all;  so  I  never  took  my  eyes  from 
him;  and  all  the  town  bowing  before  him  —  and 
he  absolutely  on  his  knees  before  you,  my  dear  ! 
Absolutely  ! 

"  Pardon  me  for  mentioning  it  —  forgive  me, 
won't  you?  —  but  what  a  beautiful,  exquisite 
ring!  Look,  Isabel!  Quite  like  an  engage 
ment  ring.  Now  could  it  —  I  wonder  —  could  it," 
peering  at  it  and  then  at  Nancy  through  her 
glasses  —  Nancy,  whose  eyes  had  the  significant 
darkness  in  them  which  I  have  mentioned  so 
often. 

[182] 


CHAP.  XIV  NANCY    STAIE 

"It  is  not  an  engagement  ring,"  she  an 
swered  quietly. 

And  here  Janet,  who  had  watched  the  Hon. 
Mrs.  Erskine  in  much  the  same  manner  as  she 
would  have  regarded  a  foolish  old  cat,  came 
into  the  talk. 

"  Since  you  think  so  highly  of  Danvers, 
Mrs.  Erskine,  ye  must  say  a  good  word  for  him 
to  Nancy  Stair.  He's  my  choice  for  her  to 
marry,"  she  said,  looking  around  with  a  bland 
smile.  • 

"And  does  he  want  to  marry  her?"  Mrs. 
Erskine  asked,  abashed  by  this  directness. 

"  He  told  me  that  he  had  asked  her  three 
times  a  day  ever  since  they  met,  and  I,  for  one, 
hope  that  she'll  think  twenty  times  of  him  to 
once  she  thinks  of  that  devilish  John  Montrose." 

I  cared  nothing  for  the  silly  old  Mrs.  Ers 
kine,  but  my  heart  bled  for  her  daughter,  who 
became  a  piteous  white  at  the  turn  the  talk  had 
taken,  and  put  her  handkerchief  to  her  face, 
affecting  a  cough.  Nancy  saw  this  and  her 
heart  spoke. 

"Dandy  Carmichael,"   she  says,   "talks  to 
you,   Mrs.   MacGillavorich,   to   please  ye — you 
lay  too  much  stress  by  what  he  says." 
[183] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIV 

But  the  italicizing  lady  was  routed,  and  as 
Janet  watched  her  departure  from  the  window 
she  said: 

"  Mark  my  words,  John  Stair !  she's  fetched 
that  girl  here  to  marry  her  to  Danvers  Car- 
michael.  I've  not  known  Anne  Erskine  all 
these  years  for  nothing.  The  old  cat ! "  she 
cried. 


[1843 


CHAPTER  XV 

CONCERNING  DANVERS   CARMICHAEL   AND   HIS 
GRACE    OF   BORTHWICKE 

IT  was  from  the  time  of  the  garden  party 
on  that  Danvers  Carmichael  and  his  Grace  of 
Borthwicke  were,  to  speak  mdely,  walking  into 
each  other  at  every  turn  of  Stair,  and  it  is  a 
task  beyond  me  to  tell  the  strain  which  came 
into  our  affairs  with  the  entrance  of  Mon- 
trose. 

Subtle,  subtle,  subtle!  It  was  the  word 
which  followed  him  everywhere,  and  it  was  as 
difficult  to  manage  him  as  to  handle  quicksilver. 
He  flattered  with  a  contradiction;  saw  nothing 
unmeant  for  him  to  see;  bent  to  the  judgment 
of  him  with  whom  he  talked;  was  supple  in 
speech;  modest,  even  to  the  point  of  regarding 
himself  as  a  somewhat  humorous  failure;  told 
long  stories  with  something  of  a  stagelike  jaun- 
tiness,  of  fights  in  his  boyhood,  in  India,  in  the 
[185] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

House  of  Lords — and  by  his  own  telling  was 
ever  the  one  worsted,  the  one  upon  whom  the 
laugh  had  turned. 

For  myself,  I  confessed  openly  then,  as  I 
do  now,  that  I  found  him  the  most  diverting 
person  I  have  ever  met,  and  took  such  pleasure 
in  his  company  that  upon  me  should  rest  much 
of  the  dirdum  of  having  him  at  Stair. 

There  were  two  things,  however,  which  an 
noyed  me  no  little  concerning  his  frequent  visits 
to  my  home.  The  first  of  these  was  the  attitude 
toward  him  of  Father  Michel.  I  was  coming  out 
of  the  new  chapel  with  his  grace  one  morning 
when  we  encountered  the  good  father,  and  I 
was  struck  with  amazement  to  see  the  duke 
grow  suddenly  white  and  give  a  start  backward, 
with  a  quick  indrawing  of  the  breath  which 
made  a  choking  sound  in  his  throat,  and  that 
Father  Michel  on  the  instant  seemed  as  a  stone 
man,  save  for  the  eyes,  which,  if  I  were  any 
thing  of  an  interpreter,  showed  a  live  hate  and 
an  old-time  grudge.  During  this  meeting, 
which  was  brief  to  abruptness,  Father  Michel 
spoke  no  word,  but  bowed  low  at  the  first  silence 
which  fell  between  us,  taking  his  way  down  the 
braeside  upon  such  business  as  he  had  in  hand, 
[186] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY    STATE 

and  no  questions  were  asked  after  his  departure 
concerning  either  his  origin  or  his  labors,  for 
the  duke  was  ever  one  who  knew  the  protective 
power  of  silence. 

After  this  encounter  between  them  I  played 
a  clumsy  detective  in  proving  that  the  two 
avoided  each  other  and  that  there  had  been 
some  interwovenness  of  interests  in  the  past. 
Several  times  when  I  asked  Father  Michel  to 
join  us  at  table  he  gave  me  flimsy  excuses,  and 
once  the  duke  pleaded  indisposition  when  I 
proposed  that  he  should  accompany  Father 
Michel  on  an  inspection  of  some  stained  glass 
which  Nancy  was  having  put  in  the  altar  win 
dows  of  the  new  chapel. 

In  many  ways,  therefore,  I  became  fixed  in 
a  belief  that  there  was  hatred  in  Father  Michel 
for  John  Montrose,  and  a  distaste  for  the  good 
father  in  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke,  such  as  a 
man  might  cherish  against  one  whom  he  has 
greatly  wronged. 

The  second  trouble,  however,  was  more 
acute,  for  it  involved  the  duke's  treatment  of 
Dandy  Carmichael.  While  we  were  of  a  party 
Montrose  was  civil  enough,  but  when  the  two 
of  them  were  thrown  together  the  duke  would 
[187] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

relapse  into  an  insulting  silence,  such  as  one 
carries  in  the  presence  of  servants;  would  re 
quire  to  be  spoken  to  twice  before  answering  a 
question,  as  though  his  thoughts  were  far  away ; 
would  even  hum  to  himself  as  though  entirely 
alone;  or  put  the  cap  to  his  insolence  by  taking 
a  book  from  his  pocket  and  reading,  sometimes 
even  marking  the  rhythm  of  a  verse  aloud.  So 
from  day  to  day  there  was  growing  a  hatred  for 
the  duke  in  Danvers  by  reason  of  his  jealousy 
and  the  accumulative  discourtesy  which  he  was 
obliged  to  endure. 

As  for  Nancy's  conduct  to  the  two  of  them, 
if  it  seemed  strange  to  me,  who  was  her  father, 
it  was  but  natural  that  it  should  require  some 
explanation  to  those  less  partial  to  her,  and  she 
had  the  whole  town  talking  over  which  was  the 
favored  suitor.  She  rode  with  his  grace  in  the 
morning,  played  at  billiards  with  Danvers  in 
the  afternoon,  perhaps  to  be  off  in  the  evening 
with  McMurtree  of  Ainswere,  who  was  maudlin 
in  his  infatuation  for  her  and  whom  she  pro 
nounced  the  best  dancer  out  of  France. 

There  were  seasons  when  I  could  have 
sworn  that  she  had  no  thought  save  for  Dan 
vers.  I  have  known  her  to  watch  for  his  com- 
[188] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY   STAIR 

ing,  to  grow  restless  if  his  visits  were  a  bit  later 
than  expected,  to  regard  him  with  happy  and 
glowing  eyes,  and  to  rest  in  his  presence  in  a 
way  that  flattered  him  and  drew  him  to  her  with 
such  a  passion  of  love  showing  in  his  fine  face 
that  I  had  joy  in  the  mere  sight  of  him.  But 
these  times  would  pass,  and  mayhap  in  a  week 
or  less  she  would  be  at  the  Latinity  with  the 
duke,  heated  in  her  enthusiasm  for  him,  encour 
aging  him  in  his  tale-telling,  with  gleaming  eyes 
and  audacious  rejoinders.  At  these  times  Dandy 
fell  back  for  company  upon  his  cousin  Isabel, 
and  I  have  met  them  frequently  riding  or 
driving  together,  she  with  a  happy,  radiant 
face,  and  he  with  the  brooding  devil  in  his  eye 
and  a  sullen  look  in  the  smile  with  which  he 
greeted  me. 

In  his  frequent  absences  from  Edinburgh 
the  duke  never  allowed  Nancy's  thoughts  to 
wander  from  him  long.  A  book  by  special 
post,  an  exquisite  volume  of  Fergusson,  hand 
printed,  some  foreign  posies  in  a  pot,  an  invi 
tation  to  come  with  a  party  of  his  English 
friends  to  the  Highlands,  and  he  added: 

"  I  am  sending  the  list  of  the  guests  to  your 
Royal  Highness,  and  if  there  be  some  who  are 
[189] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

not  to  your  liking,  I  pray  you  cross  them 
off.  Following  here,"  he  went  on,  "  the  cus 
tom  usual  when  one  invites  Royalty  to  one's 
home,"  playing  all  the  moves  which  a  man 
knows  who  has  wooed  and  won  many  times,  but, 
as  it  seemed  to  me,  with  a  real  feeling  in  the 
game. 

At  this  sort  of  thing  Dandy  was  a  poor 
rival  by  reason  of  his  pride,  and  matters  were 
at  something  like  a  gloomy  standstill  between 
him  and  Nancy  when  I  called  Sandy  into  con 
sultation. 

"  Tragedy  will  come  of  it,"  I  cried  at 
length ;  "  but  by  my  hope  of  Heaven  I  know  no 
way  to  handle  the  affair.  Deny  the  duke  the 
house,  and  what  have  ye  done  to  a  girl  of 
spirit?  Urged  her  into  his  arms,  and  nothing 
else " 

Sandy's  talk  was  all  on  Nancy's  side,  how 
ever,  which  made  the  situation  a  bit  easier 
for  me. 

"  You  see,  it's  thiswise  with  most  women," 
said  he.  "  Give  them  a  husband  to  dandle  them, 
and  some  children  for  them  to  dandle  them 
selves,  and  a  house  to  potter  round,  with  some 
baubles  to  wear  when  they're  young,  and  some 
[190] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY    STAIR 

money  in  the  bank  when  they're  old,  and  they 
go  along  with  small  agitation  of  mind  until  the 
grave.  Not  that  I'm  discounting  their  value. 
They're  a  good  conservative  element  to  society, 
and  God  intended  them  for  the  reproduction  of 
the  race,  and  perhaps  they're  kept  stupid  in 
their  minds  so  that  they  will  not  rebel  against 
their  manifest  destiny. 

"  It's  not  like  this  with  Mistress  Stair!  For 
she  has  a  grasp  of  things,  and  the  fearlessness 
of  an  unbroken  colt,  and  a  mind  for  the  big 
thoughts  of  life,  and  you  and  I  have  led  her 
forward  in  her  conduct. 

"  In  the  matter  of  Danvers  she  is  following 
out  the  strongest  law  that  we  know.  'Tis  the 
natural  attraction  of  the  sexes — of  the  young 
for  the  young ;  but  her  mind  calls  for  something 
besides.  And  'tis  here  the  duke  appeals  to  her 
more.  Aye !  it's  all  a  difficult  business,"  he  con 
cluded,  "  and  fate  will  have  to  settle  it  after  all, 
as  I've  said  many  a  time." 

One  day  when  the  Little  Flower  was  by  me 
with  her  sewing  I  put  the  matter  to  her  with 
what  deftness  I  could.  Her  answers  were  brief, 
but  directly  aimed  at  the  text.  She  said  in 
effect  that  marriage  was  a  serious  affair,  and 
[  191  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

that  she  had  been  bred  up  with  so  much  liberty 
that  it  made  the  embarking  on  such  an  expedi 
tion  more  perilous  to  her  than  to  most  women. 
She  also  set  forth  that  in  nearly  every  other 
enterprise  in  life  one  might  take  a  preliminary 
jaunt,  and  finding  the  business  little  to  one's 
liking,  might  give  it  over  and  start  without 
prejudice  in  some  other. 

"  In  this  one  affair  alone,"  she  ended,  "  the 
one  of  most  moment  in  all  of  our  existence, 
there  is  no  retracing  one's  steps  with  honor  if 
it  be  found  that  one  has  taken  the  wrong  road." 

For  these  reasons  she  averred  it  her  privi 
lege  to  look  around  her  with  all  the  intelligence 
she  had  in  order  to  make  no  mistake,  both  for 
herself  and  her  future  husband. 

"  For  I'm  thinking,5'  she  said,  "  there  would 
be  trouble  afoot  if  I  found,  after  marriage,  the 
love  of  which  I  am  capable  given  over  to  a  man 
who  was  not  my  husband. 

"  Besides  which,"  she  laughed,  "  I'm  not 
certain  whom  I  am  going  to  marry.  There's 
Robert  Burns,  now,"  she  cried.  "  How  would 
you  like  to  have  a  plowman  for  a  son-in-law, 
Jock  Stair,  my  daddy  Of"  and  she  started  off 
to  the  Burnside,  singing  as  she  went;  which  was 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY    STAIR 

all  I  could  get  from  her  on  the  subject,  one  way 
or  another. 

It  was  near  the  end  of  September  that  there 
began  the  serious  trouble  between  the  duke  and 
Danvers.  I  was  come  around  from  Zachary 
Twombly's  mill,  where  I  had  been  to  pay  the  hop- 
pickers,  riding  alone  through  the  Dead  Man's 
Holm,  intending  to  enter  the  garden  by  the 
break  in  the  south  wall.  Doubts  of  the  wisdom 
of  the  way  this  child  of  mine  had  been  reared 
were  going  over  and  over  in  my  mind.  I  had 
indeed  aimed  to  make  her  the  finely  elemental 
thing  which  I  conceived  a  real  woman  to  be; 
but  I  found  with  some  perturbation  of  spirit 
that  the  plan  would  have  served  better  for  the 
general  happiness  if  the  men  with  whom  she 
had  to  deal  had  been  less  accustomed  to  the 
conventional  woman.  They  were  forever  draw 
ing  conclusions  from  her  actions  which  would 
have  held  with  sound  logic  had  they  been  ap 
plied  to  any  other  woman,  but  with  Nancy  they 
were  frequently  as  little  to  the  point  as  if  they 
had  been  drawn  from  the  conduct  of  a  Chinese 
lady. 

Thinking  these  things  over,  I  came  by  the 
group  of  pear-trees,  at  which  point  I  heard 
[193] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

voices  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall,  and  raising 
myself  in  the  stirrups  looked  over  into  the 
garden. 

It  was  a  sunny,  warm  corner,  and  a  low 
table,  with  some  chairs,  had  been  placed  there, 
together  with  a  basket  of  lace-work  which 
Nancy  had  evidently  been  overlooking.  She 
was  not  to  be  seen,  however,  although  her  flow 
ered  hat  hung  on  the  back  of  a  chair  near  by. 

Sitting  before  the  table  was  Danvers  Car- 
michael,  the  cards  spread  before  him,  making 
a  solitaire,  and  at  a  little  distance,  holding  the 
bridle  of  his  gray  horse,  stood  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke,  who,  I  judge,  had  interrupted  by 
his  entrance  a  morning  talk  between  Danvers 
and  Nancy.  There  was  a  peculiar  gleam  in  the 
eyes  of  Montrose,  and  a  jaunty  self-possession 
which  became  him  well,  as  he  stood  and  looked 
down  at  the  man  whose  temper  he  had  surely 
tried  to  the  breaking  point. 

"  'Tis  a  lonesome  game  you  play,  Mr.  Car- 
michael,"  he  said,  with  a  significance  in  his 
tone  which  the  printed  words  can  not  convey. 

"  There  are  times  when  I  prefer  lonesome- 
ness  to  the  only  company  available,"  Danvers 
returned,  and  he  raised  his  eyes  from  the 
[194] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY    STAIR 

cards  and  looked  Montrose  full  in  the  eye  as 
he  said  it. 

"Ah,"  the  duke  murmured,  and  there  was 
a  shadow  of  a  smile  around  his  lips,  "  'tis  for 
tunate  to  be  so  pliahle.  For  myself  I  prefer  to 
play  a  game  with  a  partner.  In  fact,  the  soli 
tariness  of  my  life  has  been  such  that  I  have 
thought  to  change  it.  To  be  frank  with  you,  I 
am  thinking  of  marriage." 

"  The  Three  Kingdoms  will  be  interested," 
Danvers  returned  suavely. 

Again  the  duke  smiled.  "You  compliment 
me,"  he  said,  with  a  bow.  "  It  all  depends  on 
the  lady  now.  There  is  for  me  no  longer  any 
power  of  choice;  for  I  think  none  could  see  her 
but  to  love  her,"  and  here  he  raised  his  hat 
with  something  of  a  theater's  gallantry.  "  It  is 
Mistress  Stair,  of  course,  of  whom  I  speak." 

Dandy  Carmichael  was  on  his  feet  in  a 
minute. 

"  It  is  but  fair  to  you,  your  Grace  of  Borth- 
wicke,  to  tell  you  that  Mistress  Nancy  Stair  is 
already  bespoken." 

"  Indeed?  "  said  the  duke.  "  And  whom  shall 
I  believe?  The  lady  herself  denies  it." 

"  She  has  promised  that  if  she  sees  none 

!*  195 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

within  the  year  whom  she  likes  better  she  will 
be  my  wife." 

"  Ah,"  returned  the  duke,  and  again  there 
was  a  smile.  "  Am  I  to  gather,  then,  that  Mr. 
Carmichael  considers  himself  so  attractive  that 
he  believes  it  impossible  the  lady  should  find, 
in  a  whole  year,  one  whom  she  could  prefer? " 

There  was  in  the  tone  that  which  no  man  of 
spirit  could  have  borne,  least  of  all  Danvers 
Carmichael,  who  knew  that  for  two  months  the 
path  of  the  duke  had  been  leading  up  to  this, 
and  there  was  no  hesitation  in  him.  He  held 
several  of  the  unplayed  cards  in  his  hand 
and  he  struck  the  duke  across  the  mouth  with 
them. 

"  Since  you  are  wanting  a  quarrel,  I'll  give 
you  cause  for  one,"  he  said,  and  I  joyed  to  hear 
him  say  it. 

Borthwicke  took  his  kerchief  from  his  pocket 
and  drew  it  across  his  lips. 

"  My  friends  will  wait  upon  you,"  he  said. 

"  They  will  be  welcomed,"  Danvers  an 
swered,  and  as  the  words  were  spoken  I  saw 
Nancy  come  from  the  porch  door  holding  a 
book  in  her  hand,  and  I  rode  hastily  to  the 
main  entrance  rather  than  to  place  further  pres- 
[196] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY   STAIR 

ent  embarrassment  upon  them  by  having  them 
fear  that  I  had  overheard  the  quarrel  between 
them. 

If  the  duke  showed  any  change  whatever  in 
his  manner  of  greeting  me  it  was  to  appear  a 
bit  more  frank  and  careless  than  ordinary,  his 
voice  a  trifle  smoother,  and  his  countenance 
more  open  than  I  had  ever  noted  it  before.  He 
asked  me  to  ride  to  town  with  him  to  look  at 
some  old  prints  which  he  was  for  purchasing, 
and,  as  we  rode  off  together,  turned  toward  me 
as  a  schoolboy  might  have  done,  inquiring : 

"Did  you  ever  have  an  old  song  go  over 
and  over  in  your  head,  without  rhyme  or  reason, 
Lord  Stair? " 

"  Many's  the  time,"  I  answered. 

"This  morning,"  he  continued,  "I  woke 
with  one  of  these  attacks,  which  are  o'er  fre 
quent  with  me,  and  a  bit  of  a  rhyme  of  one 
of  my  father's  serving-men  has  been  ranting 
through  my  brain  all  the  day,"  and  here  he 
broke  forth  and  sang: 

"  I  hae  been  a  devil  the  most  of  life, 

O,  but  the  rue  grows  bonny  wi'  thyme, 
But  I  ne'er  was  in  hell  till  I  met  wi'  my  wife, 
And  the  thyme  it  is  withered  and  rue  is  in  prime." 

[197] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP. 


"  'Tis  an  up-country  tune,"  I  answered  in 
words,  but  my  thought  was  one  of  wonderment 
that  a  man  who  had  just  planned  and  set  on 
foot  the  taking  of  another's  life  should  be  so 
gay  and  could  talk  so  interestedly  on  trivial 
affairs. 

Whatever  other  faults  may  be  mine,  indi 
rectness  of  speech  nor  a  slothful  gait  when 
something  has  to  be  done  were  never  accredited 
to  me,  and  I  determined  to  let  the  duke  know 
exactly  what  I  had  heard,  as  well  as  my  opinion 
of  him  in  the  business  which  he  had  stirred  up. 
Turning  toward  him,  with  no  introduction  to 
the  matter  whatever,  I  said  : 

"  Your  grace,  I  am  a  man  old  enough  to  be 
your  father;  something  of  a  philosopher  and  a 
dreamer,  who  has  let  the  current  of  this  world's 
affairs  swim  by  him  unnoted  for  many  years  — 
another,  more  dependent  on  present  issues, 
might  hesitate  to  speak  to  a  man  of  such  power 
as  yourself  in  the  manner  which  I  have  planned 
to  do;  but  I  would  forever  lose  my  own  self- 
respect,  which  I  state  honestly  is  of  far  greater 
value  to  me  than  any  opinion  which  you  or  an 
other  may  have  of  me,  if  at  this  time  I  failed 
to  be  open  with  you.  I  was  an  unintentional 
[198] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY    STAIR 

observer  of  the  scene  which  just  occurred  be 
tween  you  and  Mr.  Carmichael — one  in  which, 
to  my  thinking,  you  showed  to  monstrous  poor 
advantage." 

If  he  had  denied,  or  stormed,  or  affected  a 
hurt  honor  at  the  words,  they  would  have  but 
fallen  in  with  the  idea  I  had  of  him.  He  did 
none  of  these;  but,  turning,  said  to  me  openly 
and  as  one  in  no  wise  affronted: 

"  I  hate  the  man  for  the  best  reason  on  earth, 
Lord  Stair." 

"  And  is  it  your  way  to  try  to  kill  all  you 
hate?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  answered,  "  it  is  not  often 
necessary." 

I  can  not  set  down  the  ease  with  which  he 
spoke,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  listen 
ing  to  some  theatric  person  behind  the  foot 
lights  making  a  speech  to  the  pit  rather  than 
to  a  man  who  was  as  earnest  as  a  man  could 
well  be. 

"  The  truth  at  the  root  of  the  whole  trouble 
is  that  Mr.  Carmichael  and  I  have  the  misfor 
tune  to  love  the  same  woman. 

"  I  have  wanted  for  some  time  to  have  a 
private  talk  with  you,  Lord  Stair,"  he  con- 
[199] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

tinned.  "  If  your  time  is  at  your  command,  will 
you  do  me  the  honor  to  have  a  bottle  of  wine 
with  me  at  the  Red  Cock,  where  we  can  talk 
with  something  more  of  ease? " 

Ten  minutes  from  that  we  were  seated  by  a 
window  of  the  inn,  the  duke  on  one  side  of  a 
table  with  a  bottle  of  his  own,  I  on  the  other 
with  a  bottle  of  mine,  while  he,  with  a  frankness 
impossible  to  a  less  gifted  person,  was  dazzling 
me  by  his  wisdom  and  his  wickedness. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  for  me  to  put  down 
the  gesture,  the  grace  of  language,  the  lightness 
of  touch,  the  deliberate  choice  of  one  word  over 
another,  with  which  this  talk  was  flowered;  but 
I  can,  at  least,  state  that  it  had  to  me  a  living 
kind  of  deviltry  in  it  that  raised  me  out  of  my 
surroundings,  as  a  play  or  great  music  might 
have  done,  or  the  clash  of  some  great  event. 

"  I  was  a  poor  boy,"  the  duke  began,  "  at 
fourteen,  a  poor  Highland  body  with  estates  in 
a  begging  condition,  and  a  sickly  frame — a  stoop 
and  haggled  lungs,  but  something,  something 
within  me  that  would  not  down,  that  would 
accept  no  defeat.  I  made  this  body  of  mine 
over.  I  trained  myself  until  I  could  endure 
hardship  like  the  Indians  and  bear  pain  like  a 
[2OO] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY   STAIE 

stoic.  It  took  four  years  of  my  life  for  this, 
and  it  was  upon  its  completion  that  I  began  to 
mend  the  fortunes  of  the  family.  I  looked  out 
into  the  world  with  more  cynical  eyes  than 
generally  do  the  observing  boys  of  my  age,  and 
found  self-interest  to  be  the  lever  which  moves 
the  human  thing  we  call  man.  Man!  "  he  cried, 
with  a  laugh.  "  Lord !  there  aren't  ten  men  in 
England  to-day,  or  do  you  think  I  would  be 
where  I  am?  There  was  shamelessness,  even  a 
touch  of  villainy  in  my  creed;  but  it  was,  after 
all,  admirably  adapted  to  the  folk  with  whom 
I  had  to  deal.  But  with  my  fortune  and  my  in 
crease  of  power  my  ambition  rose  higher  and 
higher.  I  could  handle  men  at  my  will;  but  I 
began  to  ask  myself  questions  as  to  the  use  of 
doing  it  at  all.  I  was  honest  with  myself,  and 
I  saw,  I  think,  clearly  that  I  got  my  power  by 
using  the  worst  in  men. 

"Well,  my  lord,  I  met  your  daughter,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  I  found  she  had  a  better  power 
than  my  own.  As  I  have  said,  my  ambition  is 
boundless.  I  desire  always  the  best.  I  believe 
she  is  a  fine  philosopher,  she  can  win  at  my  own 
game.  Oh,"  he  interrupted  himself,  "  I  would 
not  be  setting  it  out  to  you  that  it's  my  head 
[201] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XV 

alone  she's  touched,  for  I  am  as  daft  in  my  love 
for  her  as  any  schoolboy  could  be,  but  I'm  just 
telling  you  that,  both  from  my  ambition  and  my 
love,  I  want  her  for  my  wife. 

"The  first  thing,"  he  went  on,  "which  I 
have  to  face  beside  yourself  is  this  Carmichael 
man.  If  I  had  met  him  in  any  other  relation 
in  life  I  should  have  forgotten  him  within  a 
fortnight;  but  he  has  been  forced  upon  my 
notice — there  are  things  about  him  I  can  not 
understand." 

"  They  are  his  principles,  perhaps,"  I  sug 
gested  dryly. 

The  duke  laughed  aloud. 

"  That  was  worthy  of  Mistress  Stair  her 
self,"  he  said,  his  eyes  filled  with  laughter. 

"  It  all  comes  to  this  in  the  end,  John  Mon- 
trose — if  you  know  anything  of  women.  If  ye 
kill  Dandy  Carmichael  you  need  never  expect 
to  see  Nancy's  face  again.  The  boy  is  one  of 
her  first  remembrances,  and  his  father  is  almost 
as  dear  to  her  as  I  am  myself.  What  kind  of 
place  are  you  making  with  her  to  kill  one  who, 
by  all  old  ties,  has  become  dear?  " 

"  I've  no  intention  of  killing  him,"  he  said. 
"  I  intend  to  let  him  have  a  thrust  at  me  with 
[202] 


CHAP.  XV  NANCY   STAIR 

his  sword,  and  then  get  him  sent  from  the 
country  for  it." 

I  saw  his  plan  in  a  minute. 

"  And  suppose  I  tell  Nancy  what  yeVe  just 
told  me? "  I  cried. 

He  leaned  across  the  table  and  touched  me 
lightly  on  the  shoulder. 

"  That  is  my  power,"  he  said,  "  my  knowl 
edge  of  people.  I  know  your  code,  Lord  Stair, 
and  though  I  were  the  greatest  scoundrel  on 
earth,  'tis  not  in  you  to  betray  the  confidence 
which  I  have  reposed  in  you,  even  to  help  a 
friend." 


[203] 


CHAPTER   XVI 

NANCY   STAIR  ARRANGES   MATTERS 

I  RODE  back  to  Stair,  having  accomplished 
nothing  whatever  with  the  duke,  sick  at  heart 
and  baffled  completely  by  the  shameless  honesty 
of  the  man.  Whiles  I  made  up  my  mind  to  ride 
on  to  Arran  and  tell  Sandy  of  the  whole  mat 
ter,  and  next  to  find  Dand  and  see  what  common 
sense  might  do  with  him,  though  his  deiPs  tem 
per  argued  against  any  satisfaction  being  ob 
tained  by  this  move. 

As  I  turned  into  the  policy  I  was  met  by  one 
of  the  grooms,  who  rode  in  some  haste  with  a 
letter  in  the  band  of  his  hat.  Instinct  told  me 
that  his  errand  was  relative  to  the  trouble 
brewing,  and  I  immediately  jumped  at  a  con 
clusion,  which  was  that  Nancy  had  heard  of  the 
quarrel  and  had  sent  for  one  or  other  of  her 
fire-eating  friends  to  come  to  her. 

With  no  small  interest,  therefore,  I  watched 
the  man  close  the  Holm  gate  and  set  off  at  a 
1204,] 


CHAP.  XVI  NANCY   STAIR 

breakneck  speed  toward  Edinburgh,  where  the 
duke  lay. 

At  the  dinner  I  asked  Nancy  what  she  had 
been  doing  in  my  absence. 

"  I  read  some  Fergusson  and  some  of  the 
rhymes  of  that  idiot  King  James  VI,  and  then 
I  went  over  Mr.  Pitcairn's  indictment  of  Mungo 
Armstrong.  Jock,  it  is  written  with  the  fair 
ness  of  the  judge  himself.  It  is  great  work! 
He's  a  wonderful  man,  Pitcairn ! "  which  occu 
pations  surely  showed  no  great  perturbation  of 
mind. 

After  the  meal  she  told  me  that  she  had  sent 
for  the  duke  "  concerning  some  matters,"  and 
I  lay  on  the  leather  couch  in  the  hall,  the  very 
same  bit  of  furniture,  by  the  way,  which  we 
called  Pitcairn's  sofa,  which  made  a  bitter  time 
for  us  all  later,  and  fell  asleep. 

I  was  recalled  to  consciousness  by  singing 
in  the  grounds,  and  although  the  whole  town 
knew  the  song,  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
heard  it—"  The  Duke's  Tune,"  it  was  called  far 
and  wide: 


m 


[205] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XVI 

at  the  last  note  of  which,  Borthwicke  himself, 
jaunty,  bareheaded,  and  smiling,  stood  before 
Nancy  in  the  window- way. 

"How  is  your  Royal  Highness  to-night?" 
he  cried  gaily. 

"My  Royal  Highness,"  she  replied,  with  a 
little  laugh,  "  is  not  in  a  happy  frame  of 
mind.  Things  have  gone  very  wrong  with  me 
to-day." 

"Indeed?"  returned  his  grace.  "Things 
may  be  changed  by  human  endeavor.  I  my 
self,"  very  lightly,  "  have  been  able  to  change 
a  few.  It  is  perhaps  superfluous  for  me  to  men 
tion  that  my  time  and  abilities  are  at  your 
service  always." 

"If  that  be  true,  my  troubles  have  disap 
peared  entirely,"  Nancy  returned.  "  They  were 
all  of  your  breeding.  I  have  been  thinking  of 
your  grace  the  day  long." 

"I  am  honored,"  he  said. 

"  Perhaps  you  should  know  my  thoughts 
before  you  say  that.  They  were  not  compli 
mentary  in  the  extreme,"  she  said,  looking  di 
rectly  at  him  with  very  honest  eyes. 

"  You  might,"  and  there  was  the  caressing 
tone  in  his  voice  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
[206] 


CHAP.  XVI  NANCY    STAIR 

"  tell  me  wherein  I  displease  you.    It  would  be 
the  effort  of  my  life  to  change." 

He  came  directly  toward  her  at  this,  o'er 
close,  it  seemed  to  me,  and  stood  looking  down 
into  her  eyes,  which  were  fixed  upon  his. 

"  You  mean  it  1 "  she  asked. 

"  By  the  love  I  bear  you,  the  best  thing  my 
life  has  ever  known — I  mean  it  to  the  last  letter. 
In  fact,  I  spoke  of  it  this  afternoon  to  your 
father,  Lord  Stair.  YouVe  made  a  change  in 
me.  I'm  not  promising  too  much,  but  I  am  in 
tending  a  reform  of  myself.  Let  me  put  it  to 
you,  not  too  earnestly,  lest  nothing  come  of  it, 
but  so  you  can  get  the  drift  of  my  thoughts. 

"  I  have  come  to  believe  that  your  creed  of 
love  and  helpfulness  to  every  one  is  a  stronger 
one  than  mine.  It  is  not  a  proven  thing  to  me 
yet,  but  I  think  one  gets  more  in  a  subtler  way 
than  I  can  name  from  living  by  it.  My  head 
has  got  me  so  far  in  the  working  out  of  it.  My 
heart " 

"  Your  heart  will  help  you  the  most,"  said 
Nancy.  "  And  it  is  there  I  am  hoping  for  help 
from  you."  And  here,  perhaps  to  avoid  the 
avowal  which  she  felt  might  be  coming,  she  took 
a  tangent: 

[207] 


NANCY    STAIK  CHAP. 


"  Will  your  new  wisdom  carry  you  so  far 
as  to  write  a  letter  for  me,  one  with  your  signa 
ture  at  the  bottom?  " 

"  It  will,"  his  grace  answered,  without  a  sec 
ond's  hesitation  seating  himself  at  the  writing^ 
table. 

"  It  is  for  you  to  dictate  it,"  he  went  on, 
with  the  paper  spread  before  him,  pen  in 
hand. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Carmichael,"  Nancy  began. 

His  grace  started  to  his  feet  —  this  was  far 
from  anything  for  which  he  was  prepared.  So 
for  a  space  they  regarded  each  other  steadily, 
and  then  I  saw  Nancy  put  her  soft  little  hand 
over  the  one  of  the  duke's  which  rested  on  the 
table  ;  and  his  smile  and  movement  of  the  shoul 
ders,  as  though  he  surrendered  everything  at 
her  touch,  was  one  of  the  bravest  bits  of  love- 
making  I  have  ever  seen. 

He  seated  himself  again,  and  Nancy,  stand 
ing  at  his  side,  went  on: 

"  I  am  writing  to  you  to-night  to  ask  your 
pardon  for  the  entirely  unworthy  course  which 
I  have  pursued  toward  you  during  the  past  six 
weeks." 

Again  the  duke  paused,  and  I  could  see  his 
[208] 


CHAP.  XVI  NANCY    STAIR 

jaw  set  as  he  regarded  the  words,  which  were 
bitter  enough  to  his  palate. 

"  The  matters  which  led  to  the  quarrel  be 
tween  us  were  of  my  own  breeding,  and  I  wish 
to  apologize  to  you  for  them.  Sign  it,"  said 
Nancy. 

"  I  am  willing,"  the  duke  answered,  with  an 
odd  smile ;  "  but,  little  girl,  a  man  doesn't  insult 
another  man  and  then  crawl  out  of  the  conse 
quences  of  his  act  by  letter.  Have  I  your  per 
mission  to  effect  this  thing  in  a  bit  more  mascu 
line  way  ?  I  promise  a  retraction  of  my  conduct, 
and  that  I  shall  be  humble  enough " 

"  And  there  will  be  no  duel  f  " 

"  There  will  be  no  duel,"  Borthwicke  an 
swered,  and,  subtle  creature  that  he  was,  he  saw 
by  the  look  in  Nancy's  face  how  much  his  yield 
ing  had  gained  for  him  with  her,  and  seized  the 
occasion. 

"  I  have  done  this  for  you,  as  I  might 
do  any  other  thing  for  you  which  you  might 
ask  me,  for  there's  one  thing  I  want  more 
than  my  life  itself.  "Oh,"  he  cried,  and  he 
reached  out  his  arms  toward  her,  "  can  you 
love  me,  Nancy  Stair?  Do  you  think  you  ca» 
love  me? " 

[209] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVI 

There  was  a  pause,  during  which  I  could 
hear  the  duke's  deep  breathing,  before  she  an 
swered  him. 

"  And  that's  just  the  thing  I  can't  tell,"  she 
said,  "  for  I  don't  know  myself.  You  know  the 
understanding  that  I  have  with  Danvers  Car- 
michael.  I  am  fond  of  him,  perhaps  fonder  of 
him  than  any  other;  but  there  is  no  disguising 
the  fact  from  myself  that  at  times  you  attract 
me  more." 

The  duke  laughed  aloud  in  spite  of  the  strain 
of  the  moment. 

"  You  are  an  honest  little  soul,"  he  cried, 
with  genuine  appreciation. 

"  I  try  to  be,"  she  answered. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  went  on,  temporizing,  "  a 
year  is  a  year.  We  shall  see.  But  in  the  mean 
time,  my  sins  are  forgiven  me  ?  " 

"  Entirely,"  she  answered. 

"  There  is  usually  some  token  of  forgive 
ness,  is  there  not? "  he  went  on,  as  he  stood, 
erect,  hypnotic,  and  compelling,  looking  down 
at  her. 

She  did  the  thing  for  which  he  was  least 
prepared,  by  putting  her  hand  lightly  on  his 
forehead  for  an  instant. 

[210] 


CHAP.  XVI  NANCY  STATE 

"  Te  absolve,"  she  said,  after  the  manner  of 
the  church. 

And  although  one  could  see  that  he  was  dis 
appointed,  he  smiled  at  her,  and  the  smile  had 
something  in  it  of  pleasure,  too,  for  he  of  all 
men  was  surely  the  one  to  believe  that  "  the 
fruit  which  could  fall  without  shaking  was  ever 
too  mellow "  for  him,  and  enjoyed,  to  mix  a 
metaphor,  the  pleasures  of  the  chase. 

Although  the  trouble  seemed  to  pass  by  in 
this  happy  fashion,  I  had  so  little  faith  in  his 
Grace  of  Borthwicke  that,  the  morning  for 
which  I  knew  the  duel  had  been  set,  I  rose  early 
and  rode  by  the  Old  Bridge  Road  to  see  if  any 
thing  concerning  it  were  on  foot. 

Finding  nothing  but  the  silence  of  the  morn 
ing  and  a  few  country  folk  on  the  way  to  mar 
ket,  I  rode  on  to  the  town,  where  to  my  aston 
ishment  I  came  into  the  midst  of  a  party  just 
leaving  the  Star  and  Garter  with  evidences  of 
conviviality  plain  upon  them.  The  first  I  saw 
were  Billy  Deuceace  and  Sir  Patrick  Sullivan, 
and  behind  them  Danvers,  Dr.  McMurtrie, 
Stewart  of  MacB rides,  and  his  Grace  of  Borth 
wicke,  all  of  them  seemingly  upon  the  best  of 
terms  with  each  other  and  themselves,  leaving 
is  [  211  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVI 

me  to  ride  back  to  breakfast  at  Stair  with  the 
first  appetite  I  had  had  for  hard  upon  a  week. 

In  the  afternoon  of  that  same  day  I  met 
Billy  Deuceace,  and  after  some  questioning, 
which  showed  the  knowledge  I  had  of  the  matter, 
he  said: 

"  It  was  a  compact  between  us  that  the  affair 
should  die  in  silence,  but  I  think  I  can  say  to 
you,  Lord  Stair,  in  honor,  that  his  grace  be 
haved  most  handsomely  in  the  matter — mcwt 
handsomely,"  he  repeated. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

"  THE  SWAP  O'  RHYMING  WARE  " 

THE  day  following  this  event  I  was  called 
into  the  Mearns  to  look  after  some  property 
which  by  reason  of  an  entail  had  been  thrust 
into  my  hands.  Nancy  had  planned  to  accom 
pany  me,  but  the  post  brought  her  news  that  a 
German  cousin  of  royalty,  who  was  making  a 
tour  of  the  country,  was  intending  a  visit  to  the 
lace-making  place  on  the  Burnside,  and  Father 
Michel's  word  being  for  her  presence  at  Stair, 
she  gave  over  the  trip,  and  watched  me  set  off 
with  Hugh  Pitcairn,  a  bit  saddened,  I  thought, 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  jaunt  being  taken  from 
her. 

"A  fine  lassie!"  Hugh  said,  looking  back 
at  her  from  the  coach  window,  "  who  will  do 
what's  right,  as  she  sees  it,  whether  she  gains  or 
loses  by  it  herself.  A  woman  whose  word  can 
be  believed  as  another's  oath ;  who  has  a  thought 
[313] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII' 

for  the  general  good,  apart  from  her  own  emo 
tions;  with  something  of  the  old  Roman  in  her 
sense  of  justice.  Ah,"  he  went  on  in  his  ego 
tism,  "  she  shows  training.  All  women  should 
be  taught  the  law — something  might  be  made 
of  them  then." 

I  was  employed  in  looking  over  some  un 
read  mail  which  I  had  with  me  while  Hugh  was 
laying  these  flattering  unctions  to  his  soul,  and 
came  at  this  point  upon  a  letter  from  one  Hast 
ings,  an  American  from  the  village  of  Boston  in 
South  America,  offering  in  a  kind  sure  way  to 
marry  my  daughter  Nancy  if  he  could  have  my 
consent.  He  was  a  flat-faced,  bigoted  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  a  creature  seemingly  designed  to 
drive  a  woman  of  any  wideness  of  judgment 
into  a  frenzy,  and  I  grinned  with  delight  as  I 
handed  the  letter  to  Hugh  for  his  perusal. 

He  read  it  stolidly  and  returned  it  to  me, 
uncommented  upon,  but  further  down  the  road 
I  could  see  he  was  turning  Nancy's  affairs  over 
in  his  mind,  for  he  broke  out,  with  some  dis- 
jointedness : 

"I  have  always  held  it  a  wise  arrangement 
of  nature  to  make  women  of  notable  mentality 
[214] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

of  a  dry  and  unseductive  nature,  and  pretty 
women  fools  ;  for  if  one  person  held  beauty  and 
charm  as  well  as  power  and  grasp,  there  is 
no  telling  but  she  could  overthrow  govern 
ments  and  work  a  wide  and  general  mischief. 
We've  much  to  thank  God  for,"  he  continued, 
"  that  Nancy  Stair  is  as  she  is." 

The  third  day  of  my  stay  at  Alton  I  received 
a  special  post  which  put  me  into  some  fret  of 
mind.  The  letter  was  from  Nancy,  and  is  set 
below  entire: 


VEKY  DEAKEST: 
"I  miss  you  and  am  lonesome;  for  the  lady 
is  not  coming  about  the  lace-making,  although 
she  sent  a  command  for  many  pounds'  worth  of 
work,  and  Father  Michel  is  much  pleasured  by 
that. 

"I  have  just  had  a  letter  from  Janet  Mc- 
Gillavorich.  i  Seeing  that  ye  write,'  she  says, 
'ye  may  be  interested  in  a  plowman-poet  that 
we  have  down  here,  whose  name  has  made  some 
noise  in  this  part  of  the  country.  His  name  is 
Burns,  an  Ayr  man,  and  the  gentry  are  a' 
makin'  much  of  him.  Well,  any  time  ye've  the 
[315] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVll 

fancy,  ye  can  look  out  of  the  spence  window 
and  see  heedless  Rab  Burns,  his  eyes  a-shine 
like  twa  stars,  coming  over  the  braeside,  drunk 
as  a  laird,  roaring  out,  t  How  are  thy  servants, 
blessed,  0  Lord,'  having  spent  the  night  Gude 
alane  kens  wheer.  God  kens  and  most  of  the 
neighbors,  too,  when  you  come  to  think  about 
it,  for  the  lad  has  a  Biblical  shamelessness  for 
his  misdeeds,  and  what  he  forgets  to  tell  him 
self  (and  that's  little  enough)  he  goes  home  and 
writes  out  for  all  the  parish  to  read.  So  if 
ye'd  like  a  crack  wi'  him,  just  come  right  down, 
now  your  father's  left  ye,  and  I'll  have  him  till 
dinner  with  you,  and  you  can  bob  at  each  ither 
to  your  heart's  content.' 

"Isn't  it  strange,  Jock,  that  a  thing  I 
have  wanted  so  long  should  just  happen  by, 
as  it  were!  And  so  I'm  off  for  Mauchline 
to-morrow,  with  Dickenson,  whose  silence  be 
speaks  a  shrewish  disapproval,  and  will  write 
how  Mr.  Burns  and  I  get  on  at  some  soon 
date. 

"  Give  my  love  to  Mr.  Pitcairn,  and  tell  him 
the  prints  are  full  of  his  new  book. 

"  Danvers    Carmichael    has    not   been    here 
since  the  time  you  know  of,  and  the  Duke  of 
[216] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

Borthwicke  is  on  some  sudden  business  to  the 
Highlands. 

"  With  my  heart  held  in  my  hands  toward 

you, 

"Your  own  child, 


In  a  green  tabby  velvet,  laced  with  silver, 
and  a  huge  feathered  hat,  Nancy  set  out  from 
Stair  about  eight  in  the  morning  with  Dame 
Dickenson  in  the  Stair  coach,  driven  by  Patsy 
MacColl.  By  a  change  of  horse  at  Balregal, 
she  arrived  at  Mauchline  just  as  the  lamp 
lighter  was  going  his  rounds,  and  the  coach 
was  turning  by  the  manse  when  a  serving-man, 
evidently  heavy  with  the  business,  came  toward 
the  vehicle,  signalling. 

"Are  ye  for  Mrs.  McGillavorich? "  cries  he 

"  Ay,"  Patsy  answered. 

"  Well,  I'm  put  here  to  tell  ye  that  her  house 
fell  into  the  cellar  of  itself  the  morn,  and  she's 
at  the  '  King's  Arms,'  where  'tis  her  wish  your 
young  lady  should  be  fetched  at  once." 
[217] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

Amazed  at  this  sudden  announcement, 
Patsy  drove  a  short  distance  farther,  where,  as 
directed  by  the  stranger,  he  stopped  before  a 
small  two-story  dwelling,  unpretentious,  but  ex 
ceedingly  clean  and  respectable  in  appearance, 
where  Mrs.  Todd,  the  landlady,  showed  Nancy 
into  the  living  room. 

It  was  a  quaint  old  chamber,  with  wooden 
walls,  beamed  ceiling  and  a  great  stone  fire 
place,  the  lugs  coming  out  on  each  side  to 
form  a  seat,  with  candles  lighted  in  a  row  upon 
the  mantel-shelf.  There  was  a  spinet  in  one 
corner;  a  set  of  shelves  filled  with  shining  cups 
and  saucers  between  the  low  white-curtained 
windows ;  while  a  fire  from  huge  logs  filled  the 
chimney  place  and  threw  a  dancing  light  over 
the  polished  floor,  half  hidden  by  a  thick  home 
spun  carpet,  and  as  was  the  custom  of  the  time, 
lighted  candles  had  been  set  between  the  drawn 
white  curtains  to  guide  any  uncertain  traveller  to 
his  destination. 

When  Nancy  entered,  blinded  by  the  sudden 
light,  it  was  her  thought  that  the  apartment 
was  empty,  but  here  the  devil  had  taken  his 
throw  in  the  game,  for  sitting  in  the  far  cor 
ner  at  a  small  table,  with  a  jug  and  writing 
[218] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

materials  between  them,  were  two  men,  the 
darker  of  whom  would  every  little  while  scrib 
ble  something  off,  handing  that  which  he  had 
written  to  the  other,  who  would  roar  aloud 
and  clap  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  both  would 
drink  again. 

Nancy  stood  irresolute  before  the  fire,  not 
knowing  what  to  do,  when  the  darker  man 
came  forward  from  his  place,  as  though  to 
offer  assistance,  but  at  sight  of  her  he  drew 
back  in  amazement,  and  as  Mrs.  Todd  bustled 
into  the  room  at  the  moment,  with  many 
courtesies,  to  escort  her  up  to  Mrs.  McGillavo- 
rich,  no  word  passed  between  the  two ;  but  the 
man  stood  watching  after  her  as  she  ascended 
the  winding  stairs. 

"  We're  in  a  frightful  state,  my  dear,"  Mrs. 
McGillavorich  cried  to  her  from  the  landing. 
"A  frightful  state.  But  the  house  went  down 
too  late  to  let  ye  know  that  for  your  own  com 
fort  ye'd  best  stay  at  home.  We'll  make  our 
selves  comfortable  here;  and  I've  ordered  a 
chicken  pie  for  you,  which  is  browned  to  a  turn, 
and  a  jelly  stir-about;  and  this  evening  we'll 
have  a  merry  time,  for  they  say  Burns  is  in 
the  house  this  instant." 

[219] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

"  Ah,"  she  went  on,  peering  from  the  win 
dow,  "  ye  got  here  just  in  the  nick  of  time ;  for 
the  wind's  roaring  from  the  west,  and  when  a 
storm  comes  from  that  direction  it's  like  to  set 
by  us  for  a  long  time." 

After  the  supper,  served  in  her  own  apart 
ment,  was  by  with,  the  strange  old  lady 
went  on: 

"And  now  we'll  go  down  to  the  spence, 
where  ye  can  meet  Mr.  Burns.  And  because 
your  father's  a  kent  man  in  these  parts  and 
your  own  name  sounding  through  the  country 
as  well,  I'll  give  out  that  ye're  my  niece,  and 
it's  in  that  way  ye  can  be  known." 

So,  attended  by  Dickenson,  carrying  her 
many  wraps  and  comforters,  with  Nancy  fol 
lowing,  Mrs.  McGillavorich  entered  upon 
Burns  and  his  companion,  whom  they  found 
drinking  and  writing  exactly  as  Nancy  had  left 
them. 

"I'd  like  to  make  you  known  to  my  niece, 
Miss  Gillavorich,"  said  Mrs.  Janet,  advancing 
toward  him.  "From  Edinburgh,"  she  added. 

He  threw  a  hasty  unconvinced  glance  at 
Nancy,  but  bowed  low  as  one  used  to  gentle 
ways. 

[220] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

"  I  am  new  come  from  Edinburgh  myself," 
he  said,  after  presenting  his  friend,  whom  he 
named  Mr.  Hamilton.  "  It's  a  braw  town. 
Have  ye  lived  there  long?"  he  asked. 

"  Some  years,"  Nancy  answered ;  "  although 
I  was  not  born  there." 

"  There  are  fine  country  places  all  about  it, 
too,"  he  continued,  "  out  the  Pentland  way." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered ;  "  Pve  seen  them." 

"  And  do  you  know  many  people  in  the  city  ? 
I've  met  in  with  some  notable  folk  on  my  so 
journ  there.  The  Monboddos,  the  Glencairns, 
and  the  Gordons  are  grand  people." 

"I've  heard  their  names,"  Nancy  returned, 
in  a  non-commital  way. 

"  They've  been  kind  to  me,"  he  went  on,  with 
a  bit  of  conceit  in  his  manner,  "  most  kind. 
The  ladies  especially,"  he  added. 

"So?"  said  Nancy.  "That  must  be  very 
comforting  to  you,"  she  added,  with  a  twinkle 
in  her  eye. 

"It  is,"  was  the  unexpected  answer,  given 
with  a  droll  look.  "  And  I  like  to  hear  them 
sing  my  songs.  Have  ye  heard  Bonnie  Dundee? 
It's  not  printed  yet." 

"  No,"  she  answered,  "  but  I  could  catch  it. 
[321] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

I  sing  a  little.     Could  ye  sooth  it  to  me,  Mr. 
Burns?" 

"  Nay,  nay,"  said  Janet,  "  no  music  or  sing 
ing  yet;  not  till  Mr.  Burns  has  given  us  some 
thing  of  his  own.  We'll  have  Dickenson  brew 
us  a  bowl  of  lemon  punch,  and  we'll  draw  the 
curtains  and  gather  the  fire,  and  Mr.  Burns  will 
line  us  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night,  the  sensi- 
blest  thing  writ  for  a  long  time,  before  ye  sing 
us  a  song,  my  dear." 

And  the  old  lady  being  set,  there  was  noth 
ing  to  do  but  to  abide  her  way  of  it;  and  thus 
by  the  fire,  with  the  elements  raising  a  din  out 
side,  the  five  of  them  listened  to  the  great  man, 
who  was  not  too  great,  however,  to  turn  the 
whole  battery  of  his  compelling  personality 
upon  Nancy  Stair,  nor  to  look  at  her  from  the 
uplifted  region  in  which  he  dwelt  during  the 
recital  to  see  what  effect  he  had  upon  her,  for 
he  had  already  learned  "  his  power  over  ladies 
of  quality." 

God  knows  if  any  of  those,  even  Burns  him 
self,  who  were  gathered  about  the  fire  that 
night  dreamed  that,  as  I  believe  now,  those  lines 
would  echo  down  the  ages,  nor  that  the  time 
was  coming  when  that  evening  might  be  a  thing 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

to  boast  upon  and  hand  the  memory  of  to  children 
and  to  children's  children  as  a  precious  heir 
loom: 

"  November  chill  blaws  loud  wi'  angry  sugh: 

The  shortening  winter- day  is  at  its  close; 

The  miry  beasts  retreating  frae  the  pleugh, 

The  black'ning  trains  o'craws  to  their  repose: * 

And  at  the  end,  fed  perhaps  by  the  adula 
tion  of  their  faces,  as  well  as  their  spoken 
words,  he  laid  some  open  flattery  to  himself 
upon  the  way  he'd  been  received  in  town  and 
at  the  noise  his  name  was  making  there  at  the 
time,  and  stirred  Nancy's  sense  of  humor, 
which,  Heaven  is  a  witness,  needed  little  to 
move  it  at  any  time. 

"A'weel,  a'weel,"  she  said  at  length,  "I 
make  verses  myself,  Mr.  Burns." 

"  Say  you  so?  "  he  cried;  "  and  that's  a  sur 
prise  to  me!  Would  you  word  us  one  of  your 
poems !  "  he  asked,  laughingly. 

"  I  sing  mine,"  she  says,  going  over  to  the 
spinet. 

"And  that's  finer  still! "  he  cried. 

"  They're  not  like  yours,"  an  apology  in  her 
voice ;  "  just  off-hand  rhymes  like,  that  come  to 
my  head  on  the  moment.  If  you  could  sooth 

r. 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

me  Bonnie  Dundee  now,  I  might  rhyme  some 
thing  to  it,"  and  the  minute  he  began,  she  said : 
"  Oh !  I  know  that — 'tis  an  old  tune,  like 
this  " — and  striking  a  chord  or  two,  she  was  off 
before  the  rest  had  any  guess  of  her  intention, 
with  a  merry  devil  in  her  eye  and  her  f ace  glow 
ing  like  a  flower  in  the  firelight : 

"  At '  The  King's  Arms '  in  Mauchline,  Rab  Burns  said  to  me, 
*  I'm  just  back  from  Edinbro'  as  you  may  see, 
Where  all  the  gay  world  has  been  bowin'  to  me, 
For  I  am  the  lad  who  wrote  Bonnie  Dundee  I 
And  just  for  a  smile  or  a  glance  of  my  eye 
The  lassies  are  ready  to  lie  down  and  die; 
So  don't  give  yourself  airs,  but  just  bow  before  me, 
For  I  am  the  lad  who  wrote  Bonnie  Dundee  !  ' 

*'  Now  a'weel,  Mr.  Burns,  I  have  somewhat  to  say 
I've  sweethearts  as  many  as  you  any  day; 
And  I've  eyes  of  my  own,  as  you've  noticed,  maybe, 
If  you've  glanced  from  the  author  of  Bonnie  Dundee  t 
And  Duncan  of  Monteith  my  suitor  has  been, 
And  Stewart  of  MacBride's,  who  has  served  to  the  Queen, 
And  if  any  one  bows,  it  will  sure  not  be  me, 
For  I  don't  give  a  groat  who  wrote  Bonnie  Dundee  I " 

The  laugh  which  followed  this  found  Burns 
at  her  side,  every  passion  in  his  inflammable 
nature  alight. 

"  Aye,"  he  cried,  "  ye  have  the  verse  makin'* 
[224] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

But  the  e's  are  easy.     Why  didn't  ye  try  the 
Do  on.    "Tis  as  celebrate."  <f: 

"  Sure,"  she  answered.  "  there  are  rhymes 
begging  for  that.  Tune,  soon,  rune,  June 

"And  loon,"  Burns  threw  in,  daffing  with 
her.  "  Ye  wouldn't  be  forgetting  that." 

"It  was  not  my  intention  to  be  leaving  the 
author  of  the  piece  out  of  it,"  she  threw  back 
at  him,  laughing,  at  which  Burns  gave  her  a 
look. 

"You'd  better  mend  your  manners,"  he 
cried,  gaily,  "  or  some  day  I'll  take  my  pen  in 
hand  to  you,  and  then,  may  the  Lord  have 
mercy  on  your  soul!"  adding  low,  "Mistress 
Nancy  Stair!  " 

Some  consternation  followed  upon  this,  for 
it  was  unknown  by  any  of  them  that  he  had 
seen  Nancy  in  Edinbro',  and  after  the  talk  was 
readjusted  a  bit  to  the  news,  the  five  of  them, 
with  Mrs.  Todd  listening  on  the  other  side  of 
the  door,  sat  till  hard  upon  one  o'clock,  with 
uplifted  minds,  insensible  to  time  or  weather. 

The  extreme  disorder  caused  by  the  wind, 
for  the  storm  had  risen,  at  length  recalled  them 
to  themselves,  and  Mrs.  Todd,  who  worshiped 
the  great  poet,  came  in. 

16  [  235  i 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

"  You  must  lie  here  to-night,  Mr.  Burns," 
she  said  hospitably;  and  as  the  poet  lighted 
Nancy  up  the  stair: 

"  Good  night,"  he  cried,  "  good  night! "  and 
then,  because  there  was  a  devil  in  the  man 
whenever  he  looked  at  a  pretty  woman,  "I'll 
have  no  sleep  to-night.  Pm  in  some  far-up 
region  where  poems  are  made  and  where  all  the 
women  are  like  you !  " 

For  three  days  the  horrid  weather  kept  them 
housebound;  three  days  in  which  Nancy  and 
Robert  Burns  lived  in  dangerous  nearness  to 
each  other,  considering  her  youth,  her  tempera 
ment,  and  the  passion  of  admiration  which  she 
held  for  him;  three  days  of  poetry  and  folk 
tales  and  ballad-singing,  with  the  man's  dan 
gerous  magnetism  at  work  between  them. 

It  was  on  the  afternoon  of  this  third  day 
that  a  girl  passed  the  window  near  which  Burns 
sat,  and  beckoning  to  him,  he  slammed  out  into 
the  storm,  with  no  prefacing  word  to  his  act 
whatever,  leaving  Nancy  staring  after  him  in 
amazement,  as  she  said  to  Mr.  Hamilton: 

"  Do  you  not  think  his  manners  are  strange?  " 

"The  Edinburgh  people  say  that  he  had 
them  straight  from  his  Maker,"  Mr.  Ham- 
[  226 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

ilton  answered,  evading  an  opinion  of  his 
own. 

"  It's  no  saying  much  for  the  breeding  of 
the  Almighty,"  she  answered,  off-hand,  with  a 
smile,  and  she  held  silence  concerning  the  mat 
ter,  although  it  was  near  upon  four  days  before 
Burns  entered  the  inn  door  again,  his  face  pale 
and  haggard,  his  eyes  sunken,  and  lines  of  dis 
sipation  upon  his  handsome  face,  which  every 
one  by  courtesy  passed  over  uncommented.  He 
brought  a  volume  of  Shenstone  with  him,  which 
he  laid  before  Nancy  as  a  gift. 

"  I  am  bringing  you  one  of  the  great  of  the 
earth,"  he  said,  gloomily  regarding  the  book, 
and  Nancy,  who  read  his  thoughts  and  wanted 
from  the  heart  to  cheer  him,  said : 

"I  whiles  wonder  at  you,  Mr.  Burns,  and 
the  way  you  go  about  admiring  every  tinker- 
peddler  who  tosses  a  rhyme  together.  YeVe  no 
sense  of  your  own  value  at  times.  Do  you 
know,"  she  went  on,  fair  glorious  to  see  in  her 
enthusiasm  glowering  down  at  him — "  Do  you 
know  that  when  this  man  Shenstone' s  grave  is 
as  flat  to  the  earth  as  my  hand,  and  his  name 
forgot,  people  will  be  building  monuments  to 
you  and  raising  schools  for  your  memory. 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVll 

Why,"  she  cried,  in  an  ecstasy,  "  'tis  you  that 
have  made  our  old  mother  Scotland  able  to  hold 
up  her  head  and  look  the  whole  world  in  the 
face  when  the  word  '  Poetry '  is  called." 

"  Ye  think  so  ?  "  he  asked,  the  tears  hig  in  his 
eyes,  his  gloom  put  behind  him.  "  It's  music 
to  hear  ye  praise  me  so,"  and  he  rose  and  leaned 
against  the  mantel-shelf,  his  face  irradiated  by 
its  usual  expression. 

"  Perhaps,"  he  began  with  some  hope,  "  when 
I  say  farewell  to  rakery  once  and  for  all,  I  may 
make  something  fine  yet.  Most  men,  Mistress 
Stair,  shake  hands  with  that  irresponsible  wench 
called  Pleasure,  but  I  have  dallied  too  long,  I 
fear,  in  her  intoxicating  society.  Aye ! "  he 
finished,  "  Wisdom's  late  upon  the  road !  "  * 

"Let's  make  a  poem  of  it!  It  sounds  like 
one ! "  she  cried,  moving  toward  the  spinet. 

"  Take  your  own  gate,"  says  Burns,  laugh 
ing;  "I'll  follow!" 

"I'll  take  the  first  lines,"  she  said  gayly. 
"  'Twill  throw  the  brunt  of  the  rhyming  on  you." 

"  You're    o'er   thoughtful,"    Burns    laughed 


*  It  is  strange  to  note  that  there  is  scarce  a  word  spoken  by  Burns 
in  all  of  Lord  Stair's  manuscript  which  can  not  be  found  directly 
or  indirectly  in  the  poet's  prose  or  verse. — EDITOR. 

[228] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

back  at  her,  and  Nancy  began  rhyming  to  an  old, 
tune  the  thought  they  had  passed  between  them, 
with  Burns  ready  with  his  rhymes  before  hei 
lines  were  entirely  spoken: 

Nancy 

"  At  break  o'  day,  one  morn  o'  May, 
While  dew  lay  silverin'  all  the  lea"; 

Burns 

"  A  lassie  fair,  wi'  gowden  hair 
Came  laughing  up  the  glen  to  me." 

Nancy 

"  Her  face  was  like  the  hawthorn  bloom, 
Her  eyes  twa  violets  in  a  mist," 

Burns 

"  Her  lips  were  roses  of  the  June, 
The  sweetest  lips  that  e'er  were  kissed." 

Nancy 

"  '  O,  what's  your  name  and  where's  your  hame? 
My  sweetest  lassie,  tell  me  true.'" 

Burns 

"  '  My  name  is  Pleasure,'  sir,  she  said, 
'  And  I  hae  come  to  live  with  you. '  " 

Nancy 

"  She  took  my  face  between  her  hands, 
And  sat  her  down  upon  my  knee." 

Burns 

"  She  put  her  glowing  lips  to  mine, 
And  oh,  but  life  was  sweet  to  me." 

1229] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVII 

Nancy 

"  Wi'  mony  a  song  we  roved  along 
My  arm  all  warm  about  her  waist." 

Burns 

"  The  hours  drunk  wi'  love's  golden  wine 
Unheeded  ane  anither  chased." 

"  All !  "  Nancy  cried  here,  "  That's  the  Burns 
touch !    I  could  never  have  done  that !  " 

Nancy 

"  Her  hair's  gay  gold,  in  many  a  fold, 
Unheeded  on  my  shoulder  lay." 

Burns 

"  Her  heart  beat  on  my  very  own, 
And  life  and  love  were  one  that  day. " 

Nancy 

"  When  noon  was  highest  up  in  air, 
An  ancient  man  came  on  the  road." 

Burns 

"  And  when  he  saw  my  loving  fair, 
His  eyes  wi'  fiercest  anger  glowed." 

Nancy 

"  'And  who  is  this,'  he  cried  to  me, 
'  That  you  have  ta'en  wi'  you  to  dwell  ?  '  " 

Burns 

"  '  Her  name  is  Pleasure,'  sir,  said  I, 
'  And  oh,  I'm  sure  she  loves  me  well.' ' ' 

Nancy 

et '  Rise  up,'  he  cried,  '  no  more  defer 
To  leave  a  wench  not  over  nice.'  " 

[230] 


CHAP.  XVII  NANCY    STAIR 

Burns 

"  '  She's  Pleasure  till  ye  wed  wi'  her, 
Her  name  she  changes  then  to  Vice. '  " 

Nancy 

"  I  got  me  up  from  where  I  lay, 
And  turned  me  toward  the  darkened  land.'1 

Burns 

"  '  Adieu,'  she  said,  wi'  no  dismay, 
And  waved  toward  me  her  lily  hand." 

Nancy 

"  The  time  was  set,  and  then  we  met, 
Old  Wisdom  came,  and  now  we  part." 

Burns 
"  '  Ye  gang  your  gate,  ye' 11  soon  forget, 

Nor  think,'  said  she,  'twill  break  my  heart.'  " 

Nancy 

"  '  There's  something  strong  within  ye  both, 
That's  makes  ye  tire  of  such  as  me." 

Burns 

"  l  But  I'm  as  I  was  made,'  she  quoth, 
'  And  how  much  better,  sirs,  are  ye  ?  '  " 

"  There's  a  deal  of  philosophy  in  that," 
cried  Hamilton.  "  I  must  have  a  copy." 

And  it  was  from  his  paper  that  I  got  the 
lines  as  I  set  them  above. 


[231] 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

I   GO   DOWN    TO    MAUCHLINE 

Or  all  this  rhyming  gaiety,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  I  had  no  knowledge  at  the  time,  being 
still  at  Alton,  chafing  under  the  business  in 
hand,  and  awaiting  each  post,  as  the  days  went 
by,  with  a  beating  heart  and  the  expectancy  of 
some  unworded  trouble. 

The  twelfth  day  passing  without  news,  I  cut 
the  end  of  my  business  off  altogether,  and 
started  for  Stair,  it  being  my  thought  that 
Nancy's  visiting  would  be  ended  and  that  I 
should  find  her  there  awaiting  my  return.  The 
home-coming  was  a  dreary  one,  the  house  dark 
ened  and  unsociably  redd  up,  and  I  sat  alone  to 
a  dinner,  served  me  by  Huey,  in  a  depth  of 
gloom  and  melancholy  which  he  had  never 
reached  before,  debating  whether  to  write  to 
Mauchline  or  to  go  down  myself  the  following 
morning. 

While  turning  the  matter  over  in  my  mind, 


CHAP.  XVIII  NANCY    STAIR 

Mr.  Francis  Hastings^  name  was  brought  in  to 
me,  and  the  humor  of  the  situation  struck  me 
with  some  force,  for  here  was  a  girl  partially 
engaged  to  two  men,  off  visiting  a  third,  with  a 
fourth  clamoring  at  the  door  to  be  her  husband. 

"  Come  in,"  I  cried  heartily  to  the  large- 
faced  young  man  when  he  appeared  at  the  door 
way.  "  I'm  glad  to  see  ye,  Mr.  Hastings.  Wil] 
ye  have  a  glass  with  me? "  and  I  pushed  the 
decanter  toward  him. 

"You  doubtless  know  my  errand,  Lord 
Stair,"  he  said,  refusing  the  brandy  by  a  shake 
of  the  head.  "  You  had  my  letter?  " 

"  Some  time  since,  but  I  put  off  answering 
it,  thinking — "  I  hesitated;  the  truth  being  that 
the  matter  had  passed  clean  from  my  mind  after 
reading  the  epistle — "  thinking  a  talk  would  be 
better." 

"  Have  you  any  objections  to  me?  "  he  asked> 
coming  straight  to  the  point. 

I  had  a  great  many,  but  it  was  scarce  pos 
sible  to  name  them  under  the  circumstances,  and 
I  shuffled  a  bit. 

"  To  be  frank,"  said  I,  "  there  are  obstacles." 

"  What  are  they?  "  he  asked,  and  the  conceit 
in  his  tone  conveyed  the  thought  that  for  the 
[233] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVIII 

honor  of  an  alliance  with  him  obstacles  should 
be  overcome. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  there's  Mr.  Danvers  Car- 
michael,  who  is  perhaps  the  chief  one;  and  his 
Grace  of  Borthwicke,  another;  and  Duncan  of 
Monteith,  and  McMurtree  of  Ainswere — and 
others  whose  names  I  could  set  before  you." 

"  And  does  she  love  any  of  these?  "  he  asked. 
"  She  has  not  taken  me  into  her  confidence,"  I 
answered ;  "  but  my  honest  advice  to  you  is  to 
forget  all  about  her." 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  testily,  "  with  your  per 
mission,  I  shall  ask  her  myself." 

f<  Yes,  yes !  Do !  "  And  as  I  thought  of  all 
that  would  probably  come  to  him  for  his  au 
dacity  I  urged  it  still  further :  "Do,  by  all 
means !  "  I  cried. 

He  had  scarce  gone  from  the  house,  and  I 
was  still  laughing  a  bit  over  the  affair,  when 
Huey,  with  a  changed  face  and  an  excited  voice, 
came  back  to  me  from  the  kitchen. 

"  There's  a  man,  hard  ridden,  in  the  door 
way  with  a  letter  which  he  will  give  to  none  but 
your  lordship,"  said  he,  adding  the  thing  which 
told  the  reason  for  his  pale  face  and  hurried 
voice :  "  He's  from  Mauchline." 
[234] 


CHAP.  XVIII  NANCY    STAIR 

A  premonition  of  evil  came  over  me,  and  as 
the  fellow  handed  me  the  billet  a  sudden  chill 
and  shaking  seized  my  body,  so  that  I  was 
forced  to  put  the  letter  upon  the  table  to  keep  the 
writing  steady  enough  for  me  to  see.  It  was  from 
Janet  McGillavorich,  short  to  exasperation,  and, 
with  no  set  beginning,  read  as  follows : 

"  Nancy  is  taken  ill  and  lies  delirious  at  the 
King's  Arms  in  Mauchline.  We  have  a  doctor 
here,  but  I  have  become  alarmed,  for  it  is  now 
the  fourth  day  that  she  has  been  unconscious. 
I  think  it  better  to  let  you  know  just  how  matters 
stand,  and  to  ask  that  ye  come  down  yourself 
immediately  upon  receipt  of  this  and  bring  Dr. 
McMurtrie  with  you. 

"  In  haste, 

"  JANET  McGiLLAvoKiCH." 

If  it  be  recalled  that  I  had  at  this  time  no 
knowledge  of  the  accident  to  Janet' s  old  house, 
could  surmise  no  reason  for  Nancy's  lying  at  a 
public  inn,  and  was  in  an  agony  of  fear  for  her 
life,  the  wretched  state  of  my  mind  can  well  be 
understood;  but  I  was  still  capable  of  quick 
action,  and  within  an  hour  Dr.  McMurtrie,  the 
end  of  his  dinner  carried  in  a  bag,  and  myself 
were  upon  the  Mauchline  road. 

The  crawling  of  the  coach  through  the  dark- 
[235] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVIII 

ness,  the  insane  waits  for  horses,  the  many 
necessary  but  time-consuming  details  told  upon 
my  distraught  mind  to  such  an  extent  that  when 
I  descended  at  the  door  of  the  inn  I  felt 
an  old  and  broken  man.  The  memory  of  an 
other  ride  which  I  had  taken  was  heavy  upon 
me,  my  teeth  chattered,  the  horror  showing  in 
my  face  so  plainly  that  Dame  Dickens  on  read 
my  thought  on  the  instant,  and  coming  forward, 
plucked  me  by  the  sleeve. 

"  She's  better,"  she  said,  and  at  the  sound 
of  the  words  I  put  my  head  on  the  table  and 
wept  like  a  child. 

Our  presence  being  made  known  to  Mrs. 
McGillavorich,  she  came  down  immediately, 
with  a  white  face  and  tired,  sleepless  eyes. 

"  She's  having  the  first  sleep  in  three  days," 
she  said,  "  and  the  old  doctor  thinks  the  worst  is 
by.  But  ye'd  best  not  disturb  her.  Let  her  bide 
quiet  now." 

Dr.  McMurtrie  and  I  took  turns  by  the  bed 
side  that  day  and  night,  but  she  knew  neither  of 
us,  lying,  in  her  waking  moments,  with  scarlet 
cheeks  and  wide,  delirious  eyes,  singing  snatches 
of  songs,  weaving  meaningless  words  together, 
and  crying  over  and  over  again,  "  It's  of  no 
[236] 


CHAP.  XVIII  NANCY   STAIR 

use — no  use — no  use,"   in  a  kind  of  eldritch 
sing-song  which  wrung  my  heart. 

"  She's  had  some  kind  of  a  shock,"  Dr.  Mc- 
Murtrie  said,  "  one  that  she'll  be  some  time  get 
ting  over,  I  fear." 

As  to  the  cause  of  the  trouble  the  whole 
house  was  as  mystified  as  myself. 

"  I  know  as  little  of  the  reason  of  her  illness 
as  you  do  yourselves."  Janet  said,  after  she 
had  narrated  the  doings  at  the  inn.  "  On  Tues 
day,  a  little  after  noon,  she  came  to  me  saying 
that  she'd  been  in  such  an  excited  state,  she 
was  off  alone  to  collect  herself  by  a  walk,  and 
while  she  was  out  she  passed  a  girl  who  was 
putting  some  linen  on  the  bleach-green;  Nancy 
spoke  to  her  concerning  some  lace  with  which 
the  garments  were  trimmed,  and  as  they  talked 
Rab  Burns  passed  them,  with  four  or  five  of 
his  cronies,  and  the  girl  broke  into  a  passion  at 
sight  of  him,  shaking  her  fist  after  him  and 
calling  him  foul  names  as  he  went  down  the 
lane. 

"  At  this,  another  girl,  who  was  soon  to  be 
a  mother,  came  weeping  from  the  house,  and 
Nancy  emptied  her  purse  to  them  before  they 
parted. 

[237] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVIII 

"When  she  came  in,"  Janet  went  on,  "her 
face  was  white  and  set,  her  eyes  seeing  nothing, 
and  when  Rab  Burns  sent  up  his  name  to  her 
that  night  she  said  to  the  maid,  i  Tell  Mr.  Burns 
that  Miss  Stair  will  not  see  him ! '  and  sat  by 
the  window,  staring  into  the  starlight,  where  I 
found  her  at  five  the  next  morning  with  the 
fever  upon  her  and  her  wits  gone  gyte." 

I  have  had  much  sorrow  in  my  time,  but  the 
agony  of  suspense  and  suspicion  with  which  the 
next  few  days  were  filled  pales  every  grief  of 
my  life  that  went  before  this  time.  Was  it  pos 
sible,  I  asked  God,  that  my  wee  bit,  wonderful 
lassie,  my  Little  Flower,  had  bloomed  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  by  a  plowman  of  Ayr! 

McMurtrie  drove  me  from  the  house  at  times 
for  rest  of  mind  as  well  as  exercise,  and  one 
night,  at  the  week's  end,  having  walked  farther 
than  usual,  I  entered  an  ale-house  in  the  Cow- 
gate  for  something  to  quench  my  thirst.  There 
was  a  man  standing  by  the  window,  and  at  sight 
of  him,  for  it  was  Robert  Burns,  and  the  time 
was  not  yet  come  for  me  to  say  to  him  what 
might  have  to  be  said,  I  drew  back,  thinking 
myself  unseen,  and  closed  the  door.  I  had  gone 
but  a  few  steps  in  the  darkness  when  I  felt  a 
F  23S  ] 


CHAP.  XVIII  NANCY    STAIR 

hand  clapped  on  my  shoulder,  and  turning, 
found  Burns  himself  beside  me. 

"  Come  back,"  he  cried,  "  come  back ;  I  want 
a  word  with  ye,  Lord  Stair.  YouVe  come 
down,"  he  cried,  "to  take  your  daughter  from 
the  company  of  those  unfit  for  her  to  know. 
And  you're  right  in  it.  But  the  thought  that  ye 
showed  toward  me  when  you  went  out  to  avoid 
my  company  is  wrong;  wrong,  as  I  must  face 
my  Maker  in  the  great  last  day!  IVe  had  my 
way  with  women ;  but  in  this  one  case  I've  taken 
such  care  of  her  as  ye  might  hae  done  your 
self! 

"  She's  found  the  truth  of  me,  and  our 
friendship  is  by  with  forever!  I  know  that 
well. 

"  But  tell  her  from  me,  will  ye  not,  that  such 
righting  of  a^  wrong  as  can  be  done  I  am  deter 
mined  to  do,  and  that  the  lassie  she  kens  of  is 
to  be  my  wife  as  soon  as  she  chooses.  Tell 
her,"  and  here  the  tears  stood  big  in  his  eyes, 
"  that  I  am  sorrier  than  I  can  ever  say  that  her 
mind  has  been  ass  oiled  by  my  wicked  affairs — " 
and  here  he  broke  forth  into  a  sudden  heat — 
"  God  Almighty !  "  he  cried,  "  if  a  woman  like 
that  had  loved  me,  Shakespeare  would  have  had 
[239] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XVIII 

to  look  to  his  laurels.  Aye!  and  Fergusson, 
too.  The  Lord  himself  made  me  a  poet,  but  she 
might  have  made  me  a  man ! "  * 


*  Lord  Stair  mentions  here  that  he  afterward  had  from  this  same 
girl  (Mrs.  Nellie  Brown),  the  following  description  of  the  poet's  first 
meeting  with  the  sister,  Jean  Armour  : 

"D'ye  see  Sam  McClellan's  spout  over  the  gate  there?  Weel,  it 
was  just  whaur  Rab  and  Jean  first  foregathered.  Her  and  me  had 
gaen  there  for  a  gang  o'  water,  an'  I  had  fill't  my  cans  first  an'  come 
ower  here  juist  whaur  you  an'  me's  stan'in.  When  Jean  was  fillin' 
her  stoups,  Rab  Burns  cam'  up  an'  began  some  nonsense  or  ither 
wi'  her,  an'  they  talked  an'  leuch  sae  lang  that  it  juist  made  me 
mad;  to  think,  tae,  that  she  should  ha'e  a  word  to  say  wi'  sic  a 
lowse  character  as  Rab  Burns.  When  she  at  last  cam'  ower,  I  gied 
her  a  guid  hecklin.  'Trowth,'  said  I,  ;  Jean,  ye  ocht  to  think  black- 
burnin'  shame  o'  yersel.  Before  bein'  seen  daffin'  wi'  Rab  Burns, 
woman,  I  would  far  raither  been  seen  speakin' — to  a  sodger.' 
That  was  the  beginnin'  o'  the  unfortunate  acquaintance." 

The  marriage  between  the  two  was  acknowledged  to  the  world  in 
1787  —EDITOR. 


[240 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE    QUARREL    BETWEEN    DANVERS    AND    NANCY 

WE  were  back  at  Stair  for  nearly  a  fort 
night,  with  Nancy  quite  herself  again,  before 
she  took  me  into  her  confidence  regarding  the 
Burns  experience.  Leaning  against  the  wall  by 
the  stair-foot  with  her  hands  behind  her,  a  way 
she'd  had  ever  since  she  was  a  wee  bit,  the  talk 
began,  with  no  leading  up  to  it  on  either  side. 

"  Jock,"  she  said,  suddenly,  and  a  quaint 
look  came  over  her  face,  "  I've  never  told  you 
what  made  me  ill  at  Mauchline." 

"  I've  been  waiting,"  I  answered. 

"  It  was  a  bad  time  for  me,"  she  continued. 

"  I  know  that,  Lady-bird,"  said  I. 

"  Part  of  me  died,"  she  said,  and  on  this  a 
thought  flashed  by  me  which,  I  have  often  held, 
that  in  some  way  her  language  expressed  more 
than  she  knew. 

"  I've  been  filled  up  with  conceit  of  myself," 
she  went  on,  "  and  I  got  punished  for  it." 
"  [ 241  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

"  There  was  never  a  woman  living  with 
less ! "  I  cried,  so  sodden  in  my  affection  for 
her  that  I  could  not  stand  to  hear  her  blamed, 
even  by  herself. 

"  Maybe  I  didn't  show  it,"  she  said  with  a 
smile,  "  but  I've  always  held,  '  in  to  myseiy 
that  the  gifted  folk  were  God's  aristocrats,  and 
the  day  I  told  Danvers  Carmichael  and  you  my 
esteem  of  lords  and  titles  and  forbears  I  said 
just  what  I  thought,  though  both  of  you  laughed 
at  me,  for  I  reasoned  that  any  one  whom  the 
Almighty  took  such  special  pains  with  must 
have  the  grand  character  as  well.  And  so  I 
made  of  all  the  people  who  write  and  paint  and 
sing  a  great  assembly,  like  Arthur's  knights, 
who  were  over  the  earth  righting  wrongs  and 
helping  the  weak.  Then  came  the  Burns  book; 
and  there  are  no  words  to  tell  the  glory  of  it  to 
me.  All  the  great  thoughts  I  had  dreamed  were 
written  there,  and  before  the  power  of  this  man, 
who  took  the  commonest  things  of  life  and 
wrote  them  out  in  letters  of  gold,  I  felt  as  one 
might  before  the  gods.  It  was  of  Burns  I 
thought  in  my  waking  hours,  and  'twas  of  him 
I  dreamed  by  night;  and  I  thanked  God  to  be 
born  in  his  country  and  his  time,  so  that  I 
[24,2] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

might  see  one,  from  the  people,  who  had,  in  its 
highest  essence,  the  thing  we  call  genius. 

"  But  always,  always,"  she  interrupted,  smil 
ing,  "with  the  conceit  of  myself  which  I  men 
tioned  before.  Because  God  had  given  me  a 
little  gift,  I  believed  that  I  was  in  some  degree 
a  chosen  creature,  a  bit  like  the  Burns  man 
himself. 

"  The  first  time  I  talked  with  him  at  the  inn 
I  felt  his  power,  his  charm ;  but  there  was  some 
thing  in  his  ways  to  which  I  had  never  been 
accustomed  in  men — a  certain  freedom,  which 
I  put  by,  however,  as  one  of  the  peculiarities 
of  his  gift. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  coming  over  and  burying 
her  face  in  my  breast,  "  it  took  me  but  two  weeks 
to  discover  that  the  thing  we  call  genius  has  no 
more  to  do  with  a  person's  character  than  the 
chair  he  sits  in ;  that  a  man  can  write  like  a  god 
and  live  like  the  beasts  in  the  fields.  Can  speak 
of  Christian  charity  like  the  disciples  of  old, 
and  hold  the  next  person  who  offends  him  up 
to  the  ridicule  of  the  whole  parish!  That  he 
can  write  lines  surpassing — aye ! "  she  cried, 
"  surpassing  Polonius's  advice  to  his  son,  and 
leave  them  uncopied  on  an  ale-house  table  to 
[243] 


NANCY    STAIE  CHAP.  XIX 

go  off  with  the  first  loose  woman  who  comes  by, 
and  be  carried  home,  too  drunk  to  walk,  the 
next  morning,  roaring  out  hymns  about  eternal 
salvation. 

"  And  after  I  met  the  Armour  girl,  and 
found  the  harm  that  Burns  had  brought  to  her, 
my  idol  fell  from  its  clay  feet,  and  I  was  alone 
in  a  strange  country,  with  my  gods  gone,  and 
my  beliefs  in  shreds  around  me. 

"  But  I  have  made  my  readjustments.  I  am 
humbled.  I  see  how  little  value  verse-making 
holds  to  the  real  task  of  living,  and  I  am  a  bet 
ter  woman  for  what  I  have  been  through.  I 
have  learned — almost  losing  my  mind  over  the 
lesson,"  she  interjected,  with  her  own  bright 
smile — "the  value  of  the  solid  virtues  of  life; 
and  I've  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  harder 
to  be  a  gentleman  than  a  genius.  God  makes 
one,  but  a  man  has  the  handling  of  the  other 
upon  himself.  Danvers  Carmichael,"  she  con 
tinued,  looking  up  at  me,  "  is  a  gentleman.  His 
word  is  his  bond.  He  considers  others,  respects 
woman  and  honors  her ;  controls  his  nature,  and 
has  a  code  of  conduct  which  he  would  rather 
die  than  break.  Ah !  "  she  said,  "  I  have  had 
a  bitter  time;  but  it's  taught  me  to  appreciate 
[  244  1 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

that  in  the  real  things  of  life — the  things  for 
which  we  are  here,  love,  home,  and  the  rearing 
of  children — genius  has  about  as  much  part  as 
the  royal  Bengal  tiger.  It's  beautiful  to  look  at, 
but  dangerous  to  trifle  with,  and," — here  she 
smiled  at  her  own  earnestness  for  a  second  as  she 
started  up  the  stairs — "  and  here  endeth  the  first 
lesson,  my  Lord  of  Stair !  " 

I  was  in  no  way  sorry  as  to  her  conclusions 
about  the  value  of  verse-making,  for  I  had  seen 
that  her  continual  mental  excitement  was  sap 
ping  her  vitality ;  and  I  closed  my  eyes  to  sleep 
that  night  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  to  my 
Heavenly  Father  that  the  Burns  business  was 
by  with  forever. 

Toward  noon  of  the  next  day  I  discovered 
my  mistake.  Smoking  by  the  fire  in  the  chim 
ney  corner  of  the  hall,  I  heard  a  clattering  of 
horses'  hoofs  on  the  gravel  outside,  and  from 
the  window  saw  Danvers  Carmichael  throw  the 
reins  to  his  groom,  run  up  the  steps  of  the  main 
entrance,  and  ask  for  Miss  Stair  in  a  voice 
strangely  unlike  his  usual  one.  I  knew  that 
Nancy  was  sitting  with  some  la.ce-work  in  her 
own  writing-room,  and  hoped  much  from  their 
[345] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

meeting,  and  that  her  recent  experience,  which 
made  her  set  a  new  value  on  Danvers,  would 
bring  about  a  more  complete  understanding  be 
tween  them. 

"  Ah,  Dandy ! "  said  Nancy,  her  voice  hav 
ing  a  ring  of  pleasure  in  it.  "  When  did  you 
return  from  Glasgow  ?  " 

"Late  yesterday,"  he  answered.  "I  dined 
at  the  club  in  town  and  rode  home  about  ten. 
I'm  thinking  of  leaving  Arran  for  a  time,"  he 
said,  coldly. 

"  Why  didn't  you  stop  1 "  she  asked,  with 
some  surprise. 

"  I  was  in  no  mood  for  visiting  last  night." 

"  You  were  ill,  or  worried  ?  "  Nancy  inquired 
anxiously. 

"  Worried,  ill,"  he  answered.  "  111,  and 
ashamed,  and  miserable,  in  a  way,  please  God, 
most  men  may  never  know." 

"  What  is  it,  Dandy?  "  and  I  saw  that  at  his 
vehemence  she  put  her  work  on  the  table  and 
moved  toward  him. 

"  Oh !  "  he  cried  out,  "  it's  you !  It's  you ! 
In  the  month  before  I  went  away  I  had  to  en 
dure  God  only  knows  what  bitterness  because 
of  you !  And  on  my  return  last  night  I  hear  at 
C246] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

the  club  that  ye've  been  off  in  Ayrshire  visiting 
Eobert  Burns!  Did  ye  have  a  pleasant  time?  " 
he  asked,  glowering  down  at  her  from  his  great 
height,  handsome  and  angrier  than  I  had  ever 
seen  him  before. 

The  tone  rather  than  the  words  struck  fire 
immediately,  and  Nancy's  eyes  took  a  peculiar 
significance,  boding  little  good  to  the  one  with 
whom  she  was  having  dealings. 

"Very  pleasant,"  she  answered,  in  a  voice 
of  ice,  picking  up  her  work  and  reseating  her 
self. 

"  Before  I  went  away,"  Danvers  continued, 
"there  was  little  in  the  way  of  humiliation 
which  I  had  not  endured  at  your  hands!  I've 
seen  ye  play  fast  and  loose  with  half  the  men 
in  Edinbro' — aye,  in  the  whole  of  Scotland,  it 
seems  to  me !  I  have  heard  your  name  coupled 
more  often  than  I  can  tell  with  that  of  the 
greatest  scoundrel  in  Scotland,  and  have  held 
silence  concerning  it;  and  when  things  came  to 
that  pass  that  none  could  endure  it  and  I  struck 
him ;  how  was  the  affair  settled.  By  your  sending 
for  him ! — for  him !  "  he  fairly  screamed,  "  while 
I,  your  betrothed  husband  almost,  was  left  in 
ignorance  that  ye  knew  of  the  matter  at  all. 
[247] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

"And  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  in  the 
Holm,  what  does  the  damned  scoundrel  do  but 
come  forth  with  his  friends  and  apologize  for 
his  conduct  with  seeming  generosity,  naming 
the  whole  husiness  the  result  of  a  crusty  temper 
of  his  own,  apologizing  handsomely,  and  in  a 
devilish  open  way,  ending  by  saying: 

" i  One  who  is  dear  to  me  has  shown  me  my 
faults,  and  I  am  doing  her  bidding,  as  well  as 
fulfilling  my  own  sense  of  justice,  in  asking 
your  pardon ! '  And  at  the  mention  of  you  he 
took  off  his  hat  and  spoke  as  one  who  performs 
an  obligation  to  another  who  has  a  right  to 
demand  it. 

"  You  can  perhaps  see  the  light  in  which  I 
was  placed!  Even  my  own  friends  went  over 
to  the  duke's  side,  and  I  was  forced  to  shake 
his  damned  hand  and  join  him  at  the  Ked  Cock 
for  breakfast  or  show  a  surly  front  by  my  re 
fusal.  I  was  made  a  laughing  stock  for  the 
whole  party.  Put  in  the  wrong  in  every  way; 
and  even  Billy  Deuceace,  a  man  of  penetration, 
was  so  deceived  by  this,  that  afterward  he  bade 
me,  with  a  laugh,  *  fight  about  women  who  were 
in  love  with  me  and  not  with  other  men.'  " 

During  this  rehearsal  of  his  wrongs  Nancy 
[248] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

sat  quietly  embroidering,   not  looking   at  the 
speaker  nor  seeming  to  note  the  voice  at  all. 

"I  said  nothing  of  the  affair  to  you,"  he 
continued;  "I  thought  to  let  the  thing  go  by, 
and  went  off  to  Glasgow,  hoping  to  forget  it 
before  we  met  again.  And  what  do  I  come  back 
to?  To  learn  that  half  the  town  has  it  that 
you've  visited  an  inn  in  another  county  and 
spent  your  days,  aye,  and  I  suppose  they  say 
your  nights,  too,  with  Rab  Burns,  whom  decent 
folk  will  not  let  their  daughters  know.  At  tales 
like  this  the  affair  takes  on  another  complexion. 
I  do  not  want  a  wife  for  myself,  nor  a  mother 
for  my  children,  whose  name  has  been  bandied 
about  like  that!" 

He  was  so  beside  himself  with  rage  and 
jealousy  and  the  further  present  annoyance  of 
Nancy's  inattention,  that  he  raised  his  voice  at 
the  end  to  a  tone  of  harshness,  such  as  none  had 
ever  used  to  Nancy  Stair,  and  which  she  was 
the  last  woman  to  stand  patient  under.  She  did 
the  thing  by  instinct  which  would  enrage  him 
most,  putting  a  thread  to  her  needle,  squinting 
up  one  eye  as  she  did  so,  in  a  composed  and 
usual  manner,  and  letting  a  silence  fall  before 
she  said,  in  a  level  and  unemotional  voice: 
[349] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

"  Sit  down,  Dandy,  and  stop  shouting. 
There's  no  use  getting  the  town-guard  out  be 
cause  you  chance  not  to  want  me  any  longer 
for  a  wife.  You  don't  have  to  have  me,  you 
know!" 

He  seemed  somewhat  dashed  by  this,  and 
there  was  a  pause,  during  which  he  took  a 
paper  from  his  pocket  and  cast  it  on  the  table 
before  her. 

"No,"  he  says,  "and  that's  very  true;  but 
for  your  own  sake  as  the  Lord  of  Stair's 
daughter,  I'd  write  no  more  verses  like  these. 
God!"  he  cried,  "to  think  of  that  white-faced 
American  having  a  thing  like  that  from 
you!" 

"What's  the  matter  with  the  writing?"  she 
said,  looking  down  at  it  as  though  its  literary 
merit  were  the  thing  he  questioned.  "Mr. 
Hastings,"  she  explained,  "had  an  old  song 
called  the  Trail  of  the  Gipsies,  and  he  rather 
flouted  me  because  I  set  such  store  by  it,  but 
had  it  lined  and  sent  me  with  some  flowers.  On 
the  minute  of  their  coming,  and  with  the  thought 
of  how  little  the  Anglo-Saxon  comprehends  any 
race  save  his  own,  I  wrote  these  lines.  I  see  no 
harm  in  them !  " 

[250] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

As  Nancy  read  the  poem*  over  she  looked  up 
with  the  same  curious  look. 

"What's  the  matter  with  it?"  she  asked 
again. 

"  The  matter  with  it? "  he  repeated  after 
her.  "It's  a  thing  no  lady  should  ever  have 
thought,  and  no  woman  should  ever  have  writ 
ten." 

"  Ye  think  so  ? "  she  said,  and  there  was  an 
amused  tolerance  in  her  voice  as  of  discussing 
a  mature  subject  with  a  child,  adding  in  a  tone 
as  remote  as  if  speaking  of  the  Tenant  Act, 
"  Your  opinions  are  always  interesting,  Dand." 

"Interesting  to  you  they  may  or  may  not 

*  A  thousand  thanks  for  the  verses, 

And  the  thoughts  that  they  bring  from  you, 
But  it's  only  a  gipsy  woman 
Who  can  feel  how  the  trail  holds  true. 

You  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers, 

With  your  face  so  proud  and  pale, 
And  the  birth  born  pain  of  a  fettered  brain, 

What  can  ye  know  of  the  trail  ? 

By  the  lawless  folk  who  bore  me, 

By  their  passion  and  pain,  and  loss, 
By  their  swords  which  strove  and  their  Lights  o'  Love, 

I've  a  right  to  the  gipsy  cross. 

Poems  by  Nancy  Stair.     Edinburgh  Edition,  1796. 

[351] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

be,  but  it's  just  come  to  this:  A  young  woman 
who  continues  the  relations  you  do  with  the 
greatest  scoundrel  on  earth;  who  writes  verses 
immoral  in  tone  to  one  man  and  visits  another 
for  weeks  in  an  ale-house — but,"  and  here  he 
broke  off  suddenly,  "  you  may  know  no  better 
with  your  rearing. " 

"  Miss  Erskine  will  perhaps  have  been  tell 
ing  you  what  it  is  customary  for  young  ladies 
to  do,"  Nancy  suggested,  in  a  dangerous,  level 
voice. 

"I  do  not  need  telling.  It's  a  thing  about 
which  right-thinking  people  will  agree  without 
words,"  he  answered;  and  it  was  here  that 
Nancy  spoke  in  her  own  voice,  though  heated 
by  anger,  and  with  the  words  coming  faster 
than  ordinary. 

"And  that's  maybe  true,"  she  said;  "but 
there  are  other  things  to  be  considered.  It  has 
always  been  in  my  mind  that  most  marriages 
are  very  badly  made  up,"  she  said.  "  That  in 
this  greatest  of  all  affairs  between  a  man  and 
a  woman  people  lose  their  wits  and  trust  to  a 
blind  kind  of  attraction  for  each  other.  I  have 
thought  to  use  my  head  a  bit  more  in  the  matter. 
The  very  fact  that  you  are  misunderstanding 
[252] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

me  now  as  you  do  goes  far  to  prove  how  foolish 
a  marriage  between  us  would  have  been." 

"  Heavens ! "  he  cried,  "  you  talk  of  mar 
riage  as  though  it  were  a  contract  between  two 
shop-keepers  to  be  argle-bargled  over.  It's  an 
affair  of  the  heart,  not  of  the  head.  Ye've  never 
loved  ine,"  he  said  bitterly,  "  or  ye'd  know 
that." 

"  That  may  be  true,"  Nancy  answered,  mu 
tinously.  "  I  have  tried  to  be  fair  to  you,  how 
ever,  and  not  to  let  you  have  a  wife  who  didn't 
know  her  own  mind.  I  am,  as  you  reminded 
me,  different  from  other  women  in  many  ways. 
I  like  many— 

"  Pve  noted  that,"  he  interrupted  with  scant 
courtesy. 

"And  Pm  afraid  I  shall  continue  to  like 
them  for  one  thing  or  another  till  the  end ;  and 
you're  of  a  jealous  turn,  Danvers,"  she  said, 
coldly. 

"  I  have  been,"  he  said.  "  Where  you  were 
concerned  I  haven't  a  generous  thought.  I  take 
shares  in  my  wife  with  no  man.  I  have  been 
jealous  of  the  sound  of  your  voice,  the  glance 
of  your  eye.  What  I  have  had  to  endure  be 
cause  of  this  ye  must  surely  have  seen !  When 
[253-] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

a  woman  loves  a  man  she  has  no  thought  for 
another— 

"  It's  maybe  so,"  Nancy  broke  in,  "  but  it's 
as  entirely  beyond  me  as  flying.  If  I  loved  you 
with  all  there  is  of  me,  and  another  came  by 
with  a  bit  of  a  rhyme,  or  a  new  tale,  or  a  plan 
quite  of  his  own  thinking,  the  chances  are  many 
that  you'd  be  clear  out  of  my  mind  while  he 
stayed." 

"  'Tis  fortunate,  as  you  say,"  he  interrupted, 
"  that  we  discover  this  before  'tis  too  late.  I 
think  it's  a  peculiarity  that  will  go  far  to  mak 
ing  the  husband  you  take  for  yourself  a  very 
unhappy  man." 

"  He  will  perhaps  understand  me  better  than 
you  do,"  Nancy  answered  gently. 

"  Oh,"  he  cried  at  this,  "  can't  you  see  that 
a  woman  surrenders  herself  when  she  loves? 
She  gives  as  gladly  as  a  man  takes,  and  is  happy 
to  have  him  for  her  lord  and  master.  Not  that 
he  wishes  to  rule  her,  for  'twould  be  the  thought 
of  his  life  that  her  every  desire  should  be  filled, 
but  she  must  be  willing  to  yield." 

"  Ye'd  have  made  a  grand  Turk,"   Nancy 
broke  in,  and  there  was  a  glint  of  humor  in  her 
tone  as  she  spoke  the  words. 
[354] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STAIR 

"  I  think/'  Danvers  answered,  "  you'll  find  me 
asking  only  what  most  men  expect  to  get." 

"  If  that  be  true,  the  chances  are  heavy  that 
I  shall  live  and  die  unwed,"  she  said  with  a 
laugh. 

"  Oh,  no !  "  he  cried,  in  a  cutting  voice.  "  I 
dare  say  your  mind's  made  up  as  to  what  you 
intend  to  do !  Perhaps  when  you're  the  Duchess 
of  Borthwicke  his  grace  will  enjoy  your  visit 
ing  other  men  and  writing  lines  like  these,"  and 
he  dashed  his  fist  on  the  paper  again. 

Nancy  had  by  this  time  come  to  the  far  end 
of  her  patience,  and  she  was  on  her  feet  in  a 
minute. 

"  Listen  to  me,"  she  said.  "  I  went  to  Ayr 
shire  at  the  written  asking  of  Janet  McGilla- 
vorich  to  come  to  her  own  home.  The  morning 
I  started  for  Mauchline  the  rear  of  her  house 
fell  into  the  cellar,  making  it  extremely  dan 
gerous  to  remain  in  any  part  of  the  dwelling. 
I  went  to  the  inn  only  because  she  was  there, 
and  she  stayed  with  me  until  my  father  came 
and  took  me  away.  I  saw  Robert  Burns  alone 
but  once,  entirely  by  accident,  in  the  broad  light 
of  day. 

"  As  for  the  rhyme,"  and  she  looked  down  at 
[255  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

the  paper  for  a  moment,  regarding  it  as  a  thing 
of  no  importance  whatever,  "  it  was  not  I  who 
spoke  in  the  lines,  but  a  gipsy  girl  of  my  imag 
inings.  Ye've  had  little  personal  experience 
with  the  thing  called  gift- 
He  must  have  thought  there  was  some  flout 
ing  of  him  in  this,  for  he  broke  in  heatedly : 

"  And  I  thank  God  for  it,"  he  cried,  "  for  it 
seems  to  be  a  thing  which  makes  people  betray 
trusts,  lose  all  thought  for  others,  raise  hopes 
which  they  never  intend  to  fulfil,  unbridle  their 
passions,  forget  their  sex,  and  ride  away  to  the 
deil  at  their  own  gate." 

None  could  have  foreseen  the  effect  this 
speech  had  upon  Nancy;  the  thought  it  con 
tained  falling  so  parallel  to  her  own  talk  of  the 
night  before;  but  it's  one  matter  to  say  a  thing 
of  one's  self  and  an  entirely  different  affair  to 
have  it  said  concerning  one,  and  in  a  minute  her 
anger  fairly  matched  his  own. 

"  Ye've  insulted  me,  Danvers,"  she  said, 
"  many  times  in  this  talk,  both  in  word  and 
look;  insulted  me  in  my  father's  house,  where 
you've  been  welcome,  boy  and  man,  ever  since 
ye  were  born;  insulted  me,  too,  in  a  way  I'm 
not  like  to  forget." 

[256] 


CHAP.  XIX  NANCY    STATE 

She  stood  very  tall  and  straight,  her  cheeks 
aflame,  the  lace  on  her  bosom  trembling  with 
the  quickness  of  her  breathing,  and  her  work 
dropped  on  the  table  before  her  as  she  slipped 
from  her  finger  the  ruby  ring  and  pushed  it 
toward  him. 

"  Go  away  or  stay  at  Arran,  as  you  please ! 
Eide  or  tie  as  best  suits  your  mind,  for  in  the 
way  of  love  everything  is  gone  between  us  for 
all  time.  And  where  ye  go,"  she  went  on,  "  ye 
who  pride  yereself  so  on  your  birth  and  breed 
ing,  just  recall  the  fact  that  of  all  the  men  of 
gift  whom  I  have  known,  and  they  have  been 
many,  not  one  has  ever  forgotten  himself  before 
me  as  you  haVe  done  to-day,  nor  insulted  the 
daughter  of  a  friend  in  her  own  house ! " 

He  made  no  move  to  take  the  ring,  and  it  lay 
twinkling  on  the  table  between  them  as  Nancy 
turned  to  leave  the  room. 

"  Good-by,"  he  said,  turning  white,  and  then 
(and  I  thought  a  heart  of  stone  might  be 
touched  by  the  compliment  under  such  circum 
stances)  "  Oh,"  he  cried,  as  though  the  words 
were  forced  from  him,  "  you  are  so  beautiful ! " 

"  The  country's  full  of  pretty  women,  any 
one  of  whom  will  be  likely  to  marry  you,  when 
18  [  257  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XIX 

you  order  her  to ! "  Nancy  returned  with  an 
exasperating  smile. 

"  I'll  try  it  and  see.  I  think  I  will  not  go 
away  from  Arran.  I  may  do  something  that 
will  surprise  you,"  he  added. 

"  There's  nothing  ye  could  do  that  would 
surprise  me,  unless  it  were  something  sensible, 
and  ye're  not  like  to  do  that,"  she  retorted,  and 
without  another  word  she  left  him  standing 
alone,  and  he  flung  himself  out  of  the  house, 
disappearing  across  the  lawn,  in  the  direction 
of  Arran,  with  a  white  face  and  a  brooding 
devil  in  his  eyes  that  showed  his  mind  obstinate 
and  unrelenting,  and  in  a  mood  to  do  any  fool 
ish  thing  that  came  by. 


[258] 


CHAPTER   XX 

DANVERS   GIVES   US  A   GREAT   SURPRISE 

A  FORTNIGHT  passed  with  no  news  of  the 
Arran  folks  whatever,  when  one  morning  Sandy 
appeared  at  the  door  of  the  small  dining-room 
where  we  were  breakfasting,  his  sudden  appear 
ance  recalling  that  memorable  day  when  he 
asked  me  on  the  cruise  which  brought  my  girl 
to  me.  In  the  first  glance  I  had  of  him  I  saw 
trouble;  twice  before  he  had  worn  such  a  look, 
once  at  his  mother's  death,  and  again  when 
his  wife  had  left  him,  taking  the  boy  to  Lon 
don,  and  he  knew  the  separation  to  be  final. 
His  face  was  very  pale,  the  pallor  showing 
strangely  through  his  tanned  skin,  and  his 
mouth  was  set,  and  twitching  at  the  corners  a,s 
beyond  his  control. 

"  Are  ye  ill,  Sandy? "  I  cried,  going  toward 
him  hurriedly. 

"  No,"  he  answered,  sitting  down  at  the 
table  and  hiding  his  face  in  his  hands ;  "  but 
[259] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XX 

I've  had  a  blow !  I've  had  a  blow ! "  he  re 
peated.  "  It's  Danvers,"  he  went  on,  when  he 
could  speak.  "  He  went  off  to  Lanure  yester 
day  and  married  Isabel  Erskine !  " 

"Married  Isabel  Erskine!"  I  cried,  like  a 
parrot. 

"  Married  Isabel  Erskine !  "  repeated  Nancy, 
who  stood  staring  at  him  as  if  she  doubted  his 
saneness. 

"  Married  Isa — "  I  was  beginning  again,  in 
a  highly  intelligent  manner,  when  Huey  Mac* 
Grath  suddenly  dropped  the  tray  of  dishes  he 
was  bringing  in  and  carried  his  hands  to 
his  face,  beginning  to  moan  and  cry  like  a 
woman,  for  it  had  been  the  wish  of  his  heart 
to  have  these  two  children,  who  in  some  way  he 
believed  to  be  his  own,  married  to  each  other. 

The  disturbance  was  a  good  thing  for  all, 
for  it  broke  the  unnatural  tension  between  us, 
and  after  MacColl  had  assisted  Huey  into  the 
pantry,  where  I  could  see  him  standing,  listen 
ing  at  the  doorway,  Sandy  continued: 

"  It  was  all  that  talking,  grape-eyed  woman! 

It  was  for  that  she  fetched  her  daughter  to 

Arran.    It's  been  going  on  right  under  my  eyes, 

and  I  too  blind  and  taken  up  with  my  own  affairs 

[  260  1 


CHAP.  XX  NANCY   STAIR 

to  see  it.  The  poor  laddie,"  he  cried.  "  The 
poor  fool  laddie !  " 

Understanding  that  a  discussion  of  the  mar 
riage  in  her  presence  was  an  impossibility, 
Nancy  left  us,  with  a  white  face,  on  some  pre 
tense  of  business  at  the  Burnside,  and  Sandy 
and  I  talked  it  out  between  us.  Midnight  found 
us  going  back  and  forth  over  the  matter  and 
arriving  at  the  same  point,  that  the  chances  of 
happiness  for  a  man  wedded  to  one  woman  and 
in  love  with  another  are  just  nothing  at  all.  I 
could  feel  that  there  was  one  question  in 
Sandy's  mind  which  he  could  scarce  bring  him 
self  to  ask,  and  I  took  the  suggestion  of  it  upon 
myself. 

"  It  will  bring  many  changes  to  us,"  I  said, 
"  and  to  none  more  than  Nancy." 

"Do  you  think  she  cares  for  him?"  Sandy 
asked,  putting  his  thought  plainly. 

"  To  be  frank  with  ye,  Sandy,"  said  I,  "  it's 
a  matter  IVe  been  far  from  deciding.  I  believe 
that  the  visit  to  Mauchline  changed  her  more 
than  any  other  event  in  her  life.  Before  it  she'd 
idealized  gift  and  the  possession  of  it.  When 
she  came  back  she  was  changed  in  a  way.  '  It's 
a  great  thing  to  be  a  gentleman;  I  think  it's 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XX 

more  in  the  end  than  being  a  genius,  Jock/  she 
said,  and  by  this,  as  well  as  other  speeches  of 
hers,  I  am  convinced  that  her  mind  had  turned 
toward  Danvers,  and  if  he  had  come  to  her 
with  any  kindness  at  all,  things  would  have  been 
settled  between  them;  but  he  burst  in  storming, 
poor  fellow,  like  a  crazy  loon,  and  a  fine  quar 
rel  they  had  of  it,  with  this  marriage  as  a 
resulting." 

"  There's  one  small  good  comes  out  of  it  all, 
which  is  that  the  paste-covered  woman  gets  out 
of  Arran  to-day,"  Sandy  ended.  "It's  a  thing 
she  had  not  counted  upon,  but  Danvers  wrote 
that  they  were  off  to  the  Continent,  and  it's  not 
respectable  for  her  to  stay  alone  with  me,  and 
she  packs  for  Carlisle  to-morrow." 

Of  the  next  five  months  there  is  little  to  tell 
which  bears  directly  upon  my  tale,  except  to 
make  some  mention  of  the  "  intellectual  reform  " 
of  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke,  a  name  he  put  him 
self  upon  his  altered  conduct.  News  we  had  of 
him  in  plenty,  and  if  rumor  could  be  relied 
upon,  he  was  a  changed  man.  The  first  note  of 
his  new  behavior  was  struck  by  his  relieving 
the  poor  tenant-bodies  on  his  Killanarchie  es 
tates  from  their  rentals  for  three  years  because 


CHAP.  XX  NANCY    STAIR 

of  the  losses  from  a  cattle  blight.  And  before 
the  sound  of  this  had  died  away  another  bit 
was  added  to  the  tune  of  his  reformation  by  his 
coming  out  strong  against  the  crown  for  the 
repeal  of  the  tax  on  Scotch  whisky.  And  the 
full  song  of  his  praises  began  to  be  sung  in 
public  when  he,  being  one  of  the  Scotch  Sixteen 
in  the  English  House  of  Peers,  declared  for  the 
inadequacy  of  representation  which  Scotland 
had  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  moved  for 
an  election  of  fifty-four,  after  the  English 
manner.* 

His  letters  to  Nancy  and  myself  at  this  time 
were  of  a  piece  with  him,  for  he  spoke  with 
quaint  sarcasm  of  that  which  he  termed  his 
"  change  of  heart,"  and  of  the  curious  pleasure 
he  obtained  from  marking  his  life  out  along  an 
other  line.  He  wrote  with  detail  as  well  of  a 
new  Paisley  industry  which  he  had  started  on 
one  of  his  estates,  asking  Nancy's  advice  con 
cerning  a  teacher  for  the  lace-work,  it  being  his 
purpose  to  have  the  young  women  round  Borth- 
wicke  Castle  turned  toward  making  a  livelihood 
after  this  manner.  During  all  of  this  time  his 


*  Scotland  had  but  16  Peers  and  48  Representatives  in 
ment  at  this  time. 

[263] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XX 

letters  came  frequently,  and  Nancy  read  them 
with  much  pleasure  and  many  comments,  but 
her  private  feelings  toward  the  writer  of  them 
she  confided  to  none. 

There  was  a  talk  which  set  Nancy's  state  of 
mind  with  some  clearness,  however,  which  fell 
between  us  directly  after  the  offer  of  marriage 
made  to  her  by  McMurtrie  of  Ainswere. 

"  Dearest,"  she  said,  "  I  am  beginning  to  see 
with  my  mind  that  every  woman  flies  in  the 
face  of  the  Almighty  not  to  take  into  her  life's 
reckoning  the  instinct  of  her  sex  for  love 
and  motherhood.  It  seems  to  me  that  a 
great  love  must  be  the  best  thing  of  all;  but 
I'm  just  here,  I  don't  dare  to  marry  because  I'm 
afraid  of  myself;  and  I  don't  dare  to  stay  un 
married  for  fear  of  that  great  and  unrelenting 
thing  called  Nature." 

"Nancy,"  said  I,  with  an  earnestness  that 
came  straight  from  the  heart,  "if  ye  feel  like 
that,  your  hour  has  not  yet  struck.  For  when 
the  great  love  comes,  it's  not  a  question  of  what 
you  want,  but  what  ye  can't  help ;  and  I  wouldn't 
think  anything  more  about  it,  for  ye'll  know 
when  it  comes,  my  dear,"  I  cried;  "ye'll  know 
when  it  comes !  " 

[264] 


CHAP.  XX  NANCY    STAIR 

There  was  an  odd  scrap  of  business,  trifling 
in  itself,  and  yet  leading  to  great  trouble,  which 
fell  about  this  time,  and  I  set  it  down  as  of 
interest  to  those  who  note  the  way  fate  uses  all 
as  instruments. 

Nancy,  Sandy,  and  I  had  planned  a  jaunt 
to  Ireland.  There  had  been  no  intention  what 
ever  of  taking  Huey  with  us,  for  he  was  the 
last  person  on  earth  to  take  upon  a  pleasure 
outing,  as  he  regarded  all  strangers  as  rogues 
and  villains,  and  the  Irish  people  as  heathen 
papists,  worshiping  idols  in  the  few  moments 
unoccupied  in  breaking  each  other's  heads  with 
shillalahs.  He  had  for  me  and  mine  a  devotion 
at  once  touching  and  uncomfortable;  but  as  he 
grew  older  he  interfered  in  all  manner  of  mat 
ters  beyond  his  province,  offered  advices  absurd 
and  impertinent,  and  never  once  in  the  whole 
sixty  years  of  our  acquaintance  can  I  recall  his 
agreeing  entirely  with  a  statement  made  by  any 
body  except  Nancy.  If  he  couldn't  contradict 
one  flatly,  and  the  uncongenial  part  of  acquies 
cence  was  forced  upon  him  by  his  love  of  truth, 
he  held  a  grudging  silence  or  affected  an 
absent  mind,  or  no  interest  in  the  matter  what 
ever. 

[265] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XX 

As  the  years  went  by  and  his  health  became 
feebler  he  followed  me  about  until  he  was  like 
to  drive  me  to  Bedlam,  and  I  used  to  discharge 
him  from  my  service  about  once  a  fortnight. 
I  had  never  realized  how  highly  absurd  our 
relations  were  until  Nancy  drew  them  to  my 
attention. 

"  Ye  can't  go  to  Alton  on  Thursday,  Jock," 
she  said. 

"Why!"  I  inquired. 

"  'Tis  your  day  for  discharging  Huey,"  she 
answered  with  a  laugh,  making  up  a  funny  face 
at  me. 

I  would  not  set  any  one  to  thinking  that  I 
had  a  lack  of  affection  for  my  old  serving-man, 
for  I  had  seen  his  old  age  provided  against  in 
a  manner  to  prove  my  care;  but  I  knew  that  he 
loved  me  in  spite  of  my  conduct  rather  than 
because  of  it,  and  with  no  hope  whatever  of  my 
eternal  salvation. 

The  plans  for  our  Irish  trip  were  being 
discussed  one  day  when  Nancy  found  him  weep 
ing  bitterly  over  the  silver  he  -was  counting, 
when  he  told  her  that  his  grief  came  from  fear 
lest  we  should  get  murdered  or  kidnapped  in 
that  strange  country  without  him  ,to  look  after 
[266] 


CHAP.  XX  NANCY    STAIR 

us,  and  that  the  whole  matter  was  taking  he 
very  life  out  of  him. 

The  little  one's  heart  was  so  touched  by  his 
sorrow  and  his  age  that  she  came  back  to  Sandy 
and  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  saying  that  if 
Huey  couldn't  go  she  would  stay  at  home 
herself. 

As  he  was  too  old  and  broken  to  travel  with 
safety  to  himself,  and  as  Nancy  remained  fixed 
as  death,  the  Irish  trip  was  not  taken ;  by  which, 
but  for  the  whim  of  this  old  serving-man,  we 
might  have  been  from  Scotland  and  avoided 
the  bitter  trouble  which  began  at  the  Allisons' 
rout  given  in  honor  of  the  home-coming  of 
Danvers  and  his  bride. 


[867] 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE  ALLISONS'  BALL  AND  THAT  WHICH 
FOLLOWED  IT 

As  I  have  written,  save  for  Huey  MacGrath, 
we  should  have  been  away  from  Scotland  at  the 
time  of  the  Allisons'  ball,  and  by  this  absence 
should  have  missed  the  visit  of  the  Duke  of 
Borthwicke  concerning  the  Light-House  Com 
mission,  which  fell  at  the  same  tune. 

His  grace's  letter  to  Nancy  just  previous  to 
this  return  was  filled  with  a  droll  cataloguing 
of  all  the  good  deeds  which  he  was  doing,  ii 
the  manner  of  an  exact  invoice. 

"I  hope  you  will  not  be  forgetting  any  of 
these,  not  even  the  smallest,"  he  concluded  this 
epistle,  "  for  it  is  because  of  these  I  am  going 
to  ask  you  a  favor,  a  great  favor — the  greatest 
favor  on  earth." 

For  the  two  or  three  days  before  this  merry 
making  Nancy  was  in  a  strange  mood,  of  which 
[268] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY  STAIR 

I  could  make  nothing,  her  gaiety  being  more 
pronouncedly  gay,  and  her  silences  continuing 
longer  than  I  had  ever  noted  them.  She  spent 
much  of  her  time  in  her  own  room,  trying  on 
and  having  refitted  a  wonderful  gown  which 
Lunardi  had  sent  up  from  London  by  special 
carrier  the  week  before.  I  knew  women  well 
enough  to  understand  that  she  wished  to  out 
shine  even  herself  in  this  first  meeting  with 
Danvers  since  his  marriage,  perhaps  to  show 
him  that  she  wore  no  willows  on  his  account,  or 
perchance  to  make  him  a  bit  regretful  of  what 
he  had  missed. 

On  the  evening  of  the  rout  the  duke  dined 
at  Stair,  purposing  to  go  with  us  to  the  ball  and 
to  be  set  down  at  his  tavern  on  our  way  home. 
Nancy,  in  a  short-waisted  black  frock,  sat  with 
us  at  the  meal,  merry  as  a  child,  chattering  of 
the  coming  party  and  her  "  braw  new  claes,"  as 
she  called  them,  as  if  there  were  no  trouble  in 
the  world,  or  as  if  she  were  exempted  from  it, 
if  it  existed.  She  spent  an  hour  or  more  upon 
her  dressing,  returning  to  us  a  lovelier,  fairer, 
more  radiant  Nancy  than  she  had  ever  seemed 
before,  even  to  my  infatuated  fatherly  eyes. 
Nor  was  this  thought  mine  alone,  for  I  saw  the 
F269] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

start  of  surprise  which  Montrose  gave  at  sight 
of  her,  and  heard  the  sudden  breath  he  drew  as 
she  came  toward  us  from  the  hall. 

Her  skin,  always  noticeably  white  and  trans 
parent,  seemed  this  night  to  have  a  certain 
luminous  quality.  Her  cheeks  were  flushed,  her 
gray  eyes  shone  mistily  under  the  black  lashes 
and  blacker  brows,  and  the  scarlet  outline  of 
her  lips  was  marked  as  in  a  drawing.  She  wore 
a  gown  of  palest  rose,  covered  with  yellow  cob 
webby  lace,  which  was  her  grandmother's,  the 
satin  of  the  gown  showing  through  the  film  which 
covered  it  like  "  morning  light  through  mist,"  as 
I  told  her,  to  be  poetical.  The  frock  was  low 
and  sleeveless,  the  bodice  of  it  ablaze  with  gems, 
and  there  was  another  thing  I  noticed  with  sur 
prise  and  admiration.  She  wore  her  hair  high, 
though  loose  and  soft  about  the  brows,  and  in 
the  coil  of  it  a  large  comb  set  with  many  pre 
cious  stones.  This  jewel,  originally  designed 
to  wear  at  the  back  of  the  head,  she  had  turned 
forward,  making  a  coronet  over  her  brows, 
beautiful  in  itself,  becoming  in  the  extreme,  and 
I  noted  that  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke  let  his  eyes 
rest  upon  it  with  a  peculiar  pleasure. 

He  rose  at  her  entrance  and  bowed  very  low, 
I  270  ] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY  STAIR 

with  pretended  servility,  resuming  his  usual 
manner  before  he  said,  with  significance: 

"  The  coronet  becomes  you,  Nancy  Stair." 

And  she  looked  back  at  him,  with  a  low 
laugh,  with  no  self-consciousness  in  it,  however, 
as  she  answered: 

"  There  is  none  more  competent  to  judge  of 
that  than  yourself,  your  grace." 

We  arrived  late  at  the  ball,  to  find  the  rooms 
already  crowded,  and  the  Arran  party,  with 
Sir  Patrick  Sullivan,  gathered  in  a  group  by 
the  large  window  of  the  music-room. 

Jane  Gordon  held  me  in  talk  a  minute  as  I 
passed  her,  and  for  this  reason  his  grace  offered 
his  arm  to  Nancy,  and  as  the  two  of  them 
passed  together  a  hush  fell  on  the  people  at  the 
sight  of  them,  and  I  could  see  by  significant 
glances  and  the  jogging  of  elbows  that  Edin 
burgh  folks  would  take  the  news  of  a  betrothal 
between  them  with  small  surprise.  Gordon  told 
me  later  that  some  one  suggested  this  in  a  veiled 
fashion  to  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke,  who  might 
easily  have  turned  the  matter  aside  or  noted  it 
not  at  all,  but  that  he  laughed  openly,  say 
ing: 

"  If  it  had  lain  with  me,  my  engagement  to 
[271] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

Mistress  Stair  would  have  been  announced  the 
evening  I  saw  her  first.  'Tis  the  lady  herself 
who  refuses  me,"  an  attitude  which,  from  one 
of  his  rank,  was  surely  gentlemanly  in  the 
extreme. 

As  soon  as  I  was  disengaged  from  the  Gor 
dons  I  made  my  way  toward  the  Carmichael 
family  with  joy  in  my  heart  to  see  my  lad  once 
more.  He  greeted  me  with  affection,  folding 
my  hand  in  his  as  a  loving  son  might  do,  rally 
ing  me  on  my  good  looks,  patting  me  on  the 
shoulder,  and  showing  by  every  sign  an  honest 
fondness  for  me  which  touched  me  deeply.  I 
could  have  wished  that  he  looked  better  himself. 
He  had  lost  no  flesh;  he  carried  himself  with  a 
jauntiness  and  elasticity  which  comes  from 
strength,  but  the  expression  of  his  mouth  was 
changed  and  his  eyes  had  a  restless,  uninter 
ested  expression  which  showed  him  unsettled 
and  unhappy. 

Isabel  looked  ill  at  ease.  She  had  lost  her 
color,  had  taken  on  much  flesh,  and  it  seemed, 
as  I  observed  her  more,  that  it  was  from 
the  father  rather  than  the  son  that  she  ob 
tained  what  comfort  she  had,  for  it  was  to 
Sandy  she  turned  in  all  of  the  talk,  and  it  was 
[2721 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY  STAIE 

his  arm  upon  which  she  leaned.  Her  manner 
to  me  was  constrained,  but  not  lacking  in  cor 
diality,  and  when  I  proposed  that  they  should 
join  our  party  she  assented  willingly  enough. 
Because  of  this  suggestion  it  fell  that  we  met 
Nancy  walking  toward  us  on  the  duke's  arm, 
and  at  the  sudden  sight  of  her  Danvers  Car- 
michael  turned  white  and  set  his  jaw  as  one  who 
endures  a  physical  hurt  in  silence. 

And  the  rest  of  the  evening  was  of  a  piece 
with  life,  wherein  none  can  tell  what  latent 
qualities  of  our  neighbor  may  be  brought  sud 
denly  to  the  fore,  upsetting  every  plan  which 
we  have  made  for  years. 

Whether  Danvers  lost  every  thought  of  be- 
navior  through  his  present  unhappiness,  or  for 
the  first  time  recognized  what  he  had  missed; 
whether  the  presence  of  his  Grace  of  Borth- 
wicke  in  such  devoted  attendance  upon  Nancy 
roused  his  jealousy,  none  could  know,  but  he 
seemed  to  throw  obligations  to  the  wind,  and 
bore  himself  as  one  who  has  a  mind  to  drink  his 
fill  of  present  pleasure,  no  matter  how  extor 
tionate  the  reckoning  may  be. 

So  it  fell  that  from  the  first  word  spoken 
between  Nancy  and  Danvers  it  was  he  who,  by 
19  [  273  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

sheer  recklessness,  took  the  upper  hand  with  her, 
the  duke  being  pushed  back,  as  it  were,  upon  Sir 
Patrick  or  myself  for  company. 

"  I  did  not  think  to  forget  any  of  your  love 
liness,  Miss  Stair,"  Danvers  said  as  Nancy's 
hand  met  his,  "but  I  find  I  had;  or  mayhap 
you've  added  to  it  during  my  absence.  A  thing 
which  I  had  held  to  be  impossible." 

"  'Tis  in  France  we  learn  such  speeches," 
Nancy  answered,  lifting  her  brows. 

"  Wherever  you  are  such  speeches  would  be 
the  natural  talk,"  Danvers  replied,  and  though  he 
used  a  jesting  tone  in  the  words,  his  passion 
for  her  was  so  inflamed  that  the  impression  of 
the  words  was  of  great  earnestness,  and  we — 
at  least  I  speak  for  myself — were  given  a  feel 
ing  of  looking  at  love-making  not  intended  for 
our  eyes. 

The  entire  evening  was  a  most  uncomfort 
able  time,  filled  for  me  with  fear  of  coming 
trouble  as  I  noted  Sandy's  knit  brows  and  his 
efforts  to  keep  Isabel  from  the  dancing-room 
where  Nancy  and  Danvers  were  walking  to 
gether  through  one  quadrille  after  another, 
until  the  gossip  of  the  town  was  like  to  take 
hold  of  the  matter.  It  was  a  curious  thing  that 
[274] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY  STAIR 

in  my  anxiety  I  should  turn  for  help  against 
Danvers  to  the  duke  himself. 

"  Your  grace,"  I  said,  trying  to  keep  the  tone 
a  merry  one,  "  you  are  neglecting  the  lady  you 
escorted  here  to-night,  are  you  not!  "  and  he 
laughed  in  a  dry  way  before  he  answered: 

"  In  faith  I  think  that  it  is  the  lady  who  is 
neglecting  me.  I'll  stop  it,"  he  added.  There 
was  no  "  perhaps "  or  "  if  possible "  in  his 
tone. 

"It  would  be  best,  I  think,  for  all  con 
cerned,"  I  answered  at  a  sight  of  Isabel's  pale 
face  and  Sandy's  anxious  eyes. 

Upon  the  instant  Montrose  started  toward 
the  place  where  Nancy  stood,  a  little  apart  from 
a  group  of  gay  people,  so  that  her  talk  with 
Danvers  could  be  in  the  nature  of  a  private  one, 
if  desired.  As  the  duke  made  his  way  toward 
her  I  followed  a  little  in  the  rear.  He  was,  as 
always,  smiling,  calm,  master  of  himself  and  of 
others,  and  as  he  came  toward  her  he  asked,  in 
a  low  tone  of  penetrating  quality,  which  by  in 
tention  conveyed  both  affection  and  the  rights 
of  ownership: 

"You  are  not  tiring  yourself?"  and  turn 
ing  to  Danvers,  he  added,  "You  must  help 
F275] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

Lord  Stair  and  myself  to  take  care  of  her,  Mr. 
Carmichael.  She  has  not  been  well  of  late." 

I  can  set  the  words  out,  but  the  solicitation, 
such  as  a  lover,  nay,  a  husband  might  have 
shown,  are  impossible  to  convey  with  any 
nicety ;  and  at  his  coming,  Nancy,  who  had  had 
one  experience  of  the  clash  of  tempers  between 
these  two  men,  temporized  the  affair  by  saying : 

"  My  father  and  his  grace  are  surely  right. 
I  have  not  been  well  of  late,  and  find  it  indeed 
time  for  me  to  say  '  Good  night.' " 

Toward  morning  I  was  awakened  by  the 
noise  of  a  loosened  blind,  and  slipping  into  a 
dressing-gown  went  through  the  passage  to  fas 
ten  the  latch.  Passing  Nancy's  room  I  heard 
a  moan,  and,  startled  out  of  myself,  listened  to 
hear  another,  and  still  another,  as  though  a 
heart  were  breaking.  There  was  a  light  in  the 
room,  and  through  a  small  window  in  the  door, 
the  curtain  of  which  was  drawn  a  bit  aside,  I 
saw  the  little  one  whom  I  would  gladly  die  to 
save  from  any  pain,  lying  face  down  upon  the 
floor,  her  arms  stretched  out,  the  hands  clutched 
tightly  together,  and  her  whole  body  shaking  as 
in  mortal  illness. 

[  276  ] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY  STAIE 

"  Nancy,  Nancy,  let  me  in !  Open  the  door 
to  me,"  I  cried. 

She  started  to  a  sitting  position,  tried  to 
arrange  her  disordered  hair  and  gown,  and  I 
saw  her  cast  a  look  in  the  mirror  as  she  came 
toward  the  door,  to  see  how  far  she  could  make 
me  believe  that  nothing  unusual  was  the  matter 
with  her. 

"What  is  it!"  I  asked,  my  heart  bursting 
with  love  and  sympathy  as  I  drew  her  to  my 
breast 

She  turned  her  eyes  toward  me,  eyes  which 
held  the  despair  in  them  which  only  women 
know. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  clutching  me  to  keep  from 
falling,  "  didn't  you  see?  " 

"I  saw  nothing,"  I  answered. 

"  I  can't  speak  it,"  she  says ;  "  but  another 
of  life's  lessons  has  come  to  me  to-night.  Do 
you  remember  the  time  I  told  you  that  I  had 
learned  something  with  my  head?  I  learned  it 
with  my  heart  to-night,  and  it's  like  to  kill  me. 
Oh,  what  have  I  done? "  she  cried,  "what  have 
I  ever  done  to  deserve  such  punishment  as 
this?" 

"  Tell  me,  Nancy,"  I  said.  "  There  is  noth- 
[277  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

ing  in  God's  world  that  can't  be  helped  by 
sympathy." 

"  I  can't  tell  you.  I  can't  put  words  to  it. 
See ! "  she  said,  standing  a  bit  apart  from  me. 
"  Look  at  me !  Do  you  know  a  girl  more  to  be 
envied!  Handsomer?  Bicher?  More  gifted? 
Think,  too,  of  the  advantages  that  I've  had  with 
Father  Michel  and  Hugh  Pitcairn  to  teach  me ! 
Think  of  the  stir  my  songs  have  made!  And  at 
the  end  what  am  I? 

"  Ah !  "  she  went  on,  "  take  any  woman,  any 
woman,  educate  her  in  the  highest  knowledges 
known,  keep  her  with  men,  and  far  from  her 
own  sex,  and  at  the  end  of  it,  what  is  she?  A 
creature  who  wants  the  man  she  loves  and 
babies  of  her  own,"  and  at  these  last  words  she 
broke  into  another  storm  of  weeping  which 
drove  me  wild  with  dread. 

"  Nancy,"  I  cried,  "  think  of  your  recent  ill 
ness.  For  iny  sake  try  to  control  yourself  more. 
There  is  the  poor  head  to  be  thought  of  always." 

"  It's  been  this  head  of  mine  that's  been  my 
undoing,  Jock,"  she  answered,  between  her  sobs. 
"  All  the  trouble  has  come  from  that." 

MacColl  was  off  for  Dr.  McMurtrie  before 
daybreak,  and  I  sat  holding  Nancy's  hand  wait- 
[278] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY    STAIR 

ing  for  his  coming,  with  Pitcairn's  ancient 
statement  going  round  and  round  clatter-mill 
in  my  brain : 

"  Ye  can't  educate  a  woman  as  ye  can  a  man. 
With  six  thousand  years  of  heredity,  the  physi 
ology  of  the  female  sex,  and  the  Lord  himself 
against  you,  I'm  thinking  it  wise  for  you  to  have 
your  daughter  reared  like  other  women,  to 
fulfil  woman's  great  end,"  and  pondering  over 
the  fact  that  the  great  lawyer  and  Nancy  herself 
seemed  to  have  come  to  exactly  the  same  con 
clusion. 

I  was  alarmed  by  her  pallor  and  exhaustion, 
but  McMurtrie  assured  me  that  a  sleeping  po 
tion  would  set  her  far  along  the  road  to  recov 
ery;  and  at  breakfast,  after  Nancy  had  fallen 
into  an  induced  sleep,  unknown  to  himself 
he  gave  me  what  I  felt  to  be  the  key  to  the 
whole  bitter  suffering  she  was  enduring,  suf 
fering,  I  feared,  which  came  from  a  love  learned 
too  late. 

"  Your  friend  Sandy  will  be  a  grandfather 
soon,  I  see,"  said  the  old  doctor,  beaming  at  me 
over  his  glasses  as  he  drank  his  tea. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  troubled  time 
for  all  of  us,  and  one  which  a  partial  biogra- 
[279] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

pher  of  Danvers  Carmichael  would  like  to  slur 
over  or  leave  untold  entirely,  for  it  seemed  that 
neither  reason  nor  self-respect  could  do  any 
thing  with  him  in  his  thirst  for  Nancy's  society. 
As  soon  as  she  was  about  again  he  was  over  at 
Stair,  the  excuse  being  some  presents  which  he 
had  brought  us  from  the  strange  lands  he  had 
been  visiting;  his  constant  thought  of  her,  even 
upon  his  bridal  tour,  being  plainly  shown  by 
these:  a  ring  from  Venice,  of  wrought  gold 
with  aquamarines,  some  Spanish  embroideries, 
quaint  carvings ;  and  finally  he  put  the  cap  upon 
his  extravagance  by  producing  from  an  inner 
pocket  a  girdle  of  Egyptian  workmanship,  too 
valuable  by  far  for  her  to  accept  from  him. 

"Surely,  Dandy,"  I  broke  in  at  this,  "ye 
must  see  that  Nancy,  no  matter  what  the  old- 
time  affection  between  us  may  be,  can  not  take 
such  gifts  from  you? " 

"Why  not?"  he  answered,  looking  straight 
at  me. 

"It  might  be  misinterpreted,"  I  began, 
lamely. 

"By  whom?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Not  by  us,"  I  replied,  "  but  by  others." 

"  And  what  others  are  to  know  ? "  he  de- 
[28O] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY   STAIR 

manded.  "  I  am  not  going  to  make  the  matter 
of  a  gift  public  business." 

There  was  something  in  me  which  made  it 
impossible  to  mention  his  wife  to  him,  but 
Nancy  said,  with  gentleness  and  great  wisdom, 
as  it  seemed  to  me : 

"  They  are  beautiful,  and  I  would  love  to 
have  them  from  you,  Danvers;  and  some  time, 
when  Isabel  and  I  become  great  friends,  I'll  ask 
them  of  you,  maybe;  but  I  can  not  take  them 
now." 

The  next  morning  brought  him  back,  with 
some  strange  translations  and  stranger  foreign 
prints,  where  he  knew  my  weakness;  and  I  sat 
with  the  two  of  them,  laughing  and  criticising 
the  pictures  or  the  writings  until  the  luncheon 
time  came,  when  it  was  impossible  to  turn  a 
friend  out  of  one's  house,  and  I  urged  him  my 
self  to  stay  with  us,  by  which  it  was  near  three 
when  he  set  back  to  Arran  Towers. 

On  the  following  morning  he  came  again, 
with  a  flimsy  excuse  concerning  a  mare  he  was 
thinking  of  purchasing ;  and  so,  by  this  and  by 
that,  he  managed  to  spend  most  of  his  time  at 
Stair,  and  in  Nancy's  society,  seemingly  uncon 
scious  of  a  wife  he  left  at  Arran  for  Sandy  to 

console. 

[281] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

I  grew  so  anxious  that  I  lost  sleep,  my  appe 
tite  went  from  me;  I  would  waken  in  the 
morning  with  a  load  on  my  breast  as  of  guilt, 
and  the  thought  before  me  of  having  a  situa 
tion  to  handle  which  by  a  mistake  of  mine  might 
be  turned  to  a  tragedy. 

Walking  from  the  burn  with  Father  Michel 
one  day  we  saw  Danvers  Carmichael  striding 
through  the  Holm  gate  toward  Stair  House,  and 
the  glance  that  passed  between  us  told  me  with 
out  words  that  the  holy  father's  thought 
was  mine,  which  was  that  two  people  near 
Edinbro'  Town  were  playing  very  close  to  the 
fire. 

"  I've  had  some  thought  to  speak  to  him  of 
his  conduct,"  Father  Michel  said,  "  but  it  would 
have  more  effect  coming  from  you,  my  lord." 

As  I  entered  the  house,  with  a  purpose  half 
formed,  I  found  Danvers  in  the  hall  talking  to 
Dickenson,  by  whom  Nancy  had  sent  word  that 
one  of  her  headaches  was  upon  her,  and  that  she 
was,  by  reason  of  it,  unable  to  see  any  one. 

The  concern  in  Danvers's  manner,  the  un 
conscious  exhibition  of  tenderness  in  his  voice, 
stiffened  my  half-formed  resolution,  and  I  did 
just  what  the  impulse  bade  me. 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY    STAIR 

"  Step  into  the  library  here,  Danvers,"  said 
I.  "  I  want  a  word  with  ye." 

He  gave  me  a  questioning  look,  following 
me  with  no  words  and  stood  waiting  for  me  to 
speak  after  I  had  cautiously  closed  the  door. 

"It's  just  come  to  this,  Dandie,"  I  said, 
"  you  must  stop  coming  to  this  house  as  ye  do ! 
Until  ye  had  a  wife  there  was  never  one  who 
entered  the  door  more  welcome,  hut  as  long  as 
I  have  Nancy  Stair  to  think  about,  ye'll  just 
have  to  end  these  visits  entirely.  With  the  mat 
ter  of  an  old  love  between  you,  an  affair  known 
to  the  whole  town  as  well,  your  conduct  is  fair 
impossible,  and,  what  is  more,  misunderstood !  " 

And  here  again  a  difficult  thing  in  him  to 
handle  appeared;  never  in  his  life  had  he 
known  fear  and  a  lie  was  a  stranger  to  his  lips, 
for  his  birth,  gear,  and  rearing  had  given  him 
a  secured  position  in  which  he  did  as  he  chose, 
with  excuses  to  none,  and  a  be-damned-to-you 
attitude  to  all  who  found  fault  with  him,  and 
it  was  with  the  candor  and  shamelessness  re 
sulting  from  these  that  my  dealings  lay. 

"  Misunderstood — how !  "  he  repeated  after 
me  like  an  echo. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  the  gossips  will  be  hav- 
[283] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXI 

ing  it  that  ye're  in  love  with  my  daughter 
still." 

"Lord  Stair,'*  says  he,  "whether  the  gos 
sips  speak  it  or  not  is  of  little  moment  to  me, 
but  it's  the  truth  before  God !  There  was  never 
another  woman  in  the  world  like  her,  and  from 
the  moment  I  set  eyes  upon  her  I've  loved  her 
and  wanted  her  for  my  wife.  I  love  her  more 
now  since  I  have  known  what  I  missed;  what 
I  missed ! "  he  repeated,  his  face  working  in  a 
kind  of  agony  and  his  eyes  swimming  with 
tears.  "  Oh,"  he  continued,  "  what  a  wreck  I 
have  made  of  my  life !" 

"  There's  no  need,  by  the  same  token,"  I 
cried,  "  to  make  a  wreck  of  another's  as  well. 
Ye've  a  wife  at  home,  a  wife  who  loves  you  and 
whom  you  swore  to  love  and  honor.  I  have  my 
daughter's  reputation  to  think  of,  and  the  end 
of  the  whole  matter  is  you'll  just  have  to  make 
your  visits  less  frequent." 

He  had  never  come  to  me  for  sympathy  be 
fore  when  he  had  not  found  it,  and  the  sorrow 
in  his  face  melted  me  more  than  was  wise. 

"  Say  once  a  fortnight,  or  such  like,"  I  said 
weakly.  "  Considering  the  relations  between 
your  father  and  me,  visits  so  spaced  might  pass 
[384] 


CHAP.  XXI  NANCY   STAIR 

unnoticed.  But  I  tell  you  honestly,  Danvers 
Carmichael,  when  a  man  loves  a  woman  whom 
he  can't  have,  there  is  nothing  for  it  but  a  good 
run  and  a  far  one.  You'd  better  stay  away 
altogether,  laddie.  It's  the  wisest  course." 

He  left  me  with  no  further  word,  and  I 
hoped  that  he  had  come  to  my  way  of  thinking, 
when  Satan  himself  took  a  hand  in  the  affairs 
between  Nancy  and  himself. 


I  285] 


CHAPTER   XXII 

A   STRANGE    MEETING 

UPON  the  day  following  that  on  which  1 
denied  Danvers  the  house,  a  letter  came  to  us 
from  a  hamlet  on  the  west  coast,  near  Allen- 
lough,  saying  that  Janet  McGillavorich  was 
sick  unto  death  and  desired  that  Nancy  should 
come  to  her  immediately. 

It  was  a  tedious  journey,  and  while  I  sor 
rowed  for  the  cause  of  it,  I  was  glad  to  have 
her  away  from  Stair  for  a  while,  and  hastened 
her  departure  with  Dickenson  on  the  afternoon 
coach  of  the  same  day  upon  which  the  letter 
arrived.  Even  with  this  speed  it  was  far  into 
the  second  day  before  she  came  to  the  house  in 
which  Janet  was  lying ;  a  house  which  seemed  to 
have  straggled  back  from  the  sea  and  stood  lone- 
somely  by  itself  in  a  small  fenced  garden  hav 
ing  a  gate-and-chain  opening  to  the  graveled 
path.  It  was  a  double-storied  dwelling  of  pink 
brick,  with  small-paned  windows  and  ivy  creep- 
[286] 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY    STAIR 

ing  over  it  everywhere,  even  upon  the  wooden 
cap  of  the  doorway,  which  hung  over. the  two 
broad  stone  steps  of  the  entrance. 

There  was  no  time  to  knock  before  the  door 
was  opened  to  Nancy  by  the  old  woman  who 
had  been  for  many  years  Janet's  maid,  com 
panion,  and  housekeeper,  whose  eyes  were  red 
with  weeping  and  whose  whole  bearing  denoted 
the  greatest  anxiety. 

"  She's  took  worse,"  she  said.  "  It's  thought 
she  will  not  last  the  night." 

"  "Will  she  know  me !  "  Nancy  asked. 

"  Oh,  aye !  She's  her  wits  about  her  still. 
She  knew  Mr.  Danvers,"  the  old  wife  replied. 

"  Mr.  Danvers,"  Nancy  repeated  after  her. 
"  Is  Mr.  Danvers  here !  "  And  at  the  words 
Danvers  himself  came  forward  to  greet  her. 

"Are  you  cold?"  he  inquired,  in  the  whis 
pering  tone  used  when  sickness  is  near.  "  This 
has  been  a  dreadful  trip  for  you  to  take.  You 
must  have  some  hot  tea  at  once."  And,  as  the 
old  woman  bustled  away  to  prepare  it: 

"  Were  you  sent  for,  Danvers  ? "  asked 
Nancy. 

He  nodded  acquiescence,  answering: 

"  The  two  of  us  are  named  in  the  will,"  the 
[287] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXII 

tears  coming  to  his  eyes  as  he  spoke  of  Janet's 
kindness. 

Tea  had  scarce  been  brewed  when  the  old 
doctor  came  from  above  to  say  that  Mrs.  Mc- 
Gillavorich  had  heard  of  Nancy's  arrival  and 
wanted  to  see  her  immediately,  adding,  with 
some  philosophy: 

"It  excites  her  so  not  to  get  her  own  way, 
that  it  couldn't  excite  her  more  to  have  it;  so 
just  go  up,  my  dear,  go  right  up !  " 

In  this  way,  at  the  time  of  their  lives  when 
each  was  least  prepared  for  trial  and  bitterly 
unhappy,  it  fell  that  Danvers  and  Nancy  were 
thrown  together  in  an  intimacy  impossible  un 
der  other  circumstances;  relieving  each  other 
in  the  watching,  sitting  together  by  the  bedside 
through  the  long  hours  of  the  night,  or  walking 
back  and  forth  in  each  other's  company  to  the 
little  village  on  needful  errands  for  the  small 
household.  In  the  tiny  dining-room  Nancy 
served  at  one  side  of  the  table  while  Danvers 
carved  at  the  other,  the  suggestiveness  of  such 
an  arrangement  sending  disordered  longings  to 
the  hearts  of  both. 

One  dreadful  night  when  Janet,  who  was 
barely  conscious,  clung  to  Nancy's  hand,  al- 
[2SS1 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY    STAIR 

though  the  girl's  head  ached  miserably  and  she 
had  had  no  sleep  for  forty-eight  hours,  she 
showed  by  a  sign  to  Danvers  her  intention  to 
remain  by  the  bedside  in  the  great  arm-chair. 
Her  weariness  and  suffering  made  his  heart 
yearn  over  her,  and  he  leaned  forward  from 
the  place  he  sat  to  put  his  hand  upon  her  aching 
brow.  His  soothing  touch,  or  perhaps  a  cause 
more  subtle  still,  comforted  her,  and  she  fell 
asleep,  to  find  the  gray  light  of  morn  and  Dan 
vers,  motionless  beside  her,  having  sat  all  those 
weary  hours  with  his  arm  in  a  position  which 
it  must  have  tortured  him  to  maintain.  On  the 
instant  of  her  awakening  she  said,  in  a  whisper : 

"Your  poor  arm,  Danvers!  Your  poor 
arm!" 

And  the  strain  of  his  mind  showed  in  the 
answer : 

"  I  would  lose  an  arm  altogether  for  what 
I  have  had  to-night." 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  day  Janet  was  so 
far  recovered  that  she  was  able  to  sit  up  for 
a  while  against  the  pillows,  and  from  this  on 
her  convalescence  was  a  rapid  one,  although 
the  tenth  day  had  gone  by  when  she  told  Dan 
vers,  with  her  customary  frankness,  to  be  off 
20  [  289  1 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXII 

about  his  business.  The  evening  before  his  de 
parture,  Nancy  and  he  sat  in  Janet's  room, 
fearful  of  being  alone  together  for  even  a  min 
ute,  and  past  eleven  they  parted  for  the  night, 
in  the  old  lady's  presence,  speaking  their  fare 
wells  in  gay  voices,  with  many  assurances  of 
meeting  again  in  Edinburgh  at  some  near  time. 

"I  went  to  my  room,  Jock,"  Nancy  said, 
when  she  told  me  this  tale,  "  locked  and  bolted 
the  door,  and  built  a  great  fire  in  the  chimney, 
for  I  was  shivering  from  head  to  foot.  And  I 
thought  of  you!  Only  of  you!  Your  love  for 
me!  The  touch  of  your  kind  hands!  Your 
dear  gray  head! — and  before  every  other  thing 
in  life  was  the  thought  to  do  nothing  to  shame 
you,  nor  to  cause  a  pain  to  that  true  heart  of 
yours.  And  then  I  got  down  on  my  knees  at 
the  bedside  like  a  little  child  and  prayed  to  God. 

"  *  0  God,'  I  cried,  '  take  this  pain  from  my 
heart,  for  I  can  no  longer  endure  it.  It's  kill 
ing  me.  It's  killing  me,  here,  all  alone!  away 
from  Jock  Stair!  And  if  You  will  do  this 
thing  I  will  never  ask  another  of  You  in  all  my 
days ! '  Trying  to  make  a  compact  with  my 
Maker,"  she  finished,  "  like  a  foolish  child •" 

She  heard  the  clock  strike  four,  and  know- 
[290] 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY    STAIR 

ing  the  hour  near  whoa  he  must  leave,  crept  to 
the  window  to  see  if  enough  light  had  come  for 
her  to  have  a  sight  of  him  as  he  went  down  the 
path.  While  she  stood  peering  out  into  the 
darkness,  she  heard  a  rap  at  the  bedroom  door. 

"Who  is  it?"  she  cried. 

"  It's  I — Danvers  Carmichael !  "  came  a 
voice,  low  hut  very  distinct;  at  sound  of  which 
she  unbarred  the  door  and  slipped  into  the 
hallway. 

He  had  made  himself  ready  for  his  depart 
ure;  his  great  coat,  with  the  cape  drawn  up, 
already  on,  his  cap  upon  his  head,  and  a  lighted 
lantern  beside  him,  casting  an  eerie  gleam  along 
the  black  passage.  He  was  white  to  the  lips, 
his  eyes  sunken  and  reckless,  and  at  sight  of 
him  Nancy  cried  in  alarm: 

"  What  is  it,  Danvers !    What  is  it?  " 

"Oh,  my  girl!"  said  he.  "It's  just  this! 
I  can't  go  away  and  leave  you  here!  I  can 
never  go  and  leave  you  any  more !  The  thought 
of  it  chokes  me!  I  love  you,  love  you,  love 
you!"  he  went  on,  "with  all  there  is  of  me. 
Last  year  I  offered  you  love  and  honor.  This 
year  it's  love  and  dishonor,  maybe,  but  love 
still,  love  that  is  greater  than  shame  or  death. 
[  291  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXII 

Will  ye  come  away  with  me?  There  are  other 
lands  than  ours  and  other  laws.  Bigbie's  lugger 
is  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  with  sail  up  for 
Glasgow,  and  from  there  the  world  lies  open 
for  us. 

"  Oh,  best  beloved,"  he  went  on,  "  think  of 
it !  Does  it  mean  anything  to  you  ? — to  be  alone 
together,  forever  more?  Do  you  know  what  it 
is  to  waken  with  outstretched  arms,  longing  for 
another,  to— 

"  I  have  suffered,  Danvers,"  Nancy  inter 
rupted  him.  "  I  made  mistakes,  bitter  mis 
takes,  my  head  being  so  engaged  with  other 
matters  that  I  lost  the  chart  of  woman's  nature. 
And  when  I  saw—  '  she  paused  at  this,  for  it 
was  something  she  could  not  bring  herself  to 
speak  out;  but  words  were  unneeded  between 
them,  for  his  eyes  sought  hers  hungrily,  and 
they  stood  at  gaze  with  each  other  for  a  space 
before  Danvers  cried: 

"  And  to  think  it's  not  you — to  think  it's  not 
you !  "  he  repeated,  with  a  moan  like  an  animal 
in  pain.  "  God !  "  he  went  on  in  his  raving,  "  I 
can  not  and  will  not  stand  it  longer!  Why  is 
a  love  like  this  given  to  a  man?  Do  we  choose? 
Have  I  had  any  choice  in  the  matter?  Whoever 
[  292  } 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY   STAIR 

it  was  who  designed  the  peculiar  hell  of  my  own 
nature  can  take  the  consequences  of  it  Speak 
to  me,  Nancy !  "  he  cried ;  "  speak  to  me !  Do 
not  stand  there  looking  at  me  like  a  statue! 
For  God's  sake,  speak — for  it  seems  as  though 
I  should  kill  you  and  myself,  and  so  make  an 
end." 

His  grief  had  so  worked  upon  him  by  this 
time  that  Nancy  was  beside  herself  with  fear 
for  him,  although  she  spoke  quietly  and  in  as 
natural  a  voice  as  she  could  summon. 

"I'll  go  with  you,  Dandie,"  she  said;  "Til 
go  with  you.  Wait  for  me,"  reentering  her 
room ;  "  just  wait  for  me !  " 

It  took  her  but  a  moment  to  get  some  stout 
walking-boots,  a  dark  skirt,  and  the  scarlet 
'Connemara  cloak  which  she  had  worn  on  many 
of  their  walks  together,  and  pulling  the  hood 
of  it  over  her  head,  she  stepped  softly  back 
into  the  hallway. 

"I  am  ready,"  she  said,  slipping  her  hand 
into  his ;  "  I  am  ready.  Let  us  go." 

There  was  no  further  word  spoken  between 
them.  In  silence  they  walked,  hand  in  hand, 
along  the  frozen  passage  and  down  the  twist 
ing  stairs,  closing  the  house  door  noiselessly 
[  293  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXII 

behind  them.  Outside  it  was  very  dark,  save 
in  the  far  east,  where  there  was  a  rim  of  white 
showing  in  the  sky  like  a  line  on  a  slate.  The 
cold  was  biting,  and  a  wind  which  had  not 
reached  the  ground  blew  through  the  tree-tops 
with  a  rushing  sound  and  sent  a  scurry  of 
leaves  before  them  on  their  path.  Danvers  had 
prepared  himself  by  a  lantern,  and  there  seemed 
something  significant  of  the  business  in  hand 
in  his  determination  to  leave  it  behind;  it 
was  in  the  blackness  of  midnight,  with  a  silent 
country  stretching  away  from  them  in  every 
direction  and  the  stillness  of  the  dead,  that  the 
two  walked  the  narrow  path  and  turned  into 
the  lane  which  led  by  a  cut  over  the  rise  toward 
the  Dumfries  road.  At  the  coming  out  of  the 
close-way  a  chill  wind  struck  them,  and  Nancy, 
taken  suddenly  from  the  warmth  of  bed,  drew 
back  and  shivered,  at  which  Danvers  put  his 
arm  around  her,  throwing  part  of  his  cape  over 
her.  Still  in  silence,  they  walked  until  they 
came  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  at  which  place  the 
path  divides,  one  part  of  it  winding  across  the 
bridge  to  the  stage  road,  and  the  other  dropping 
down  by  a  clump  of  sailors'  homes,  west,  to  the 
sea.  Enough  light  had  come  by  this  time  to  see 
[294,] 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY   STAIR 

the  boats  lying  at  anchor  in  the  cove  and  to  dis 
tinguish  Bigbie's  lugger  from  the  rest,  as  she 
bobbed  up  and  down,  her  sails  spread  and  ready 
to  be  off.  At  the  sight  of  this  boat  Danvers 
turned  suddenly,  as  if  recalled  to  his  senses, 
and  faced  Nancy,  as  they  stood  at  the  parting 
of  the  ways. 

"God  forgive  me!"  he  cried.  "Oh,  God 
forgive  me,  but  I  can't  do  it!  I  can't  take  ye. 
Not  though  you  begged  me  on  your  knees ;  not 
though  I  knew  you'd  die  without  me.  Oh,  can 
you  ever  forgive  the  words  I've  said  to  you  this 
morning?  Will  ye  think  rather  that  I'd  choose 
to  see  ye  dead  than  gone  with  me  in  the  way 
I've  asked?  That  I'd  rather  die  myself  than 
take  ye;  and  that  I  love  you,  love  you  enough 
to  give  you  up!  And  it's  I,"  he  went  on  in  a 
bitter  self-scorn,  "who  have  prated  of  honor, 
and  the  conduct  of  gentlemen,  who  have  made  a 
beast  of  myself  before  the  best  woman  who  ever 
lived!  Who  through  selfishness  have  tried  to 
make  her  life  a  blacker  ruin  than  I've  made  my 
own !  Can  you  forget  it,  Nancy?  Can  you  ever 
forgive  me  for  it?  " 

"Dandie,"  she  said  softly,  "ye  needn't 
worry  about  that.  I  knew  you  wouldn't  take 
[295] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXII 

me!  I  knew  'twas  just  that  you  were  carried 
beyond  yourself  by  your  sorrows  that  made  you 
talk  as  you  did  at  the  bedroom  door.  Look ! " 
she  said,  opening  the  throat  of  the  Connemara 
cloak  and  showing  him  the  neck  of  her  thin 
white  dressing  blouse,  "  one  doesn't  start  to  the 
Americas  in  clothes  like  that.  I  knew  what  you 
were  and  understood;  knew  that,  given  your 
way,  you  would  choose  the  best,  as  you  have 
done ! "  she  cried,  with  the  tears  in  her  eyes. 
"  Ye've  stood  before  temptation !  You've  done 
the  thing  that's  right  when  it  was  hard  to  do! 
and  I'm  proud  to  have  seen  you  as  I  have  this 
morning." 

They  were  both  crying  by  this  time  as  they 
stood  with  hands  clasped,  on  one  side  the  calls  of 
the  sailors  coming  up  the  slope,  on  the  other  the 
echoes  of  a  horn  rolling  along  the  frozen  ground 
from  the  coach  which  came  to  carry  Danvers 
away. 

"I  may  kiss  you  before  I  go?"  he  asked, 
with  a  longing  in  his  tone  pitiable  to  hear. 

"  If  ye  think  it's  right,"  she  answered.  "  If 
ye  think  that  when  ye  look  back  to  this  time  in 
the  years  to  come  you  will  be  happier  to  re 
member  that  ye  kissed  me,  than  to  think  you 
[2961 


CHAP.  XXII  NANCY    STAIR 

kept  the  vows  you  swore  before  God,  ye  may 
kiss  me  if  ye  choose !  " 

The  choice  was  made  in  silence,  and  he 
dropped  her  hands,  picked  up  the  valise  which 
had  fallen  by  his  feet,  and  turned  to  go.  At 
sight  of  this  resolution  Nancy  burst  into  tears. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  "  God  bless  you!  God  bless 
you,  dear !  And  give  you  peace ! "  as,  without 
touching  even  her  hand,  Danvers  Carmichael 
fared  forth  alone,  along  the  stage  road  which 
lay  lonesome  and  frozen  in  the  shadow  of  the 
night. 


[297] 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

A  FALSE   BUMOB   CAUSES   TBOUBLE 

WHILE  these  events  were  going  forward  at 
Allan-lough  I  sat  in  an  ignorant  complacency  at 
Stair,  pleased  with  the  advices  of  Janet's  con 
valescence,  and  with  no  knowledge  whatever  of 
Danvers  CarmichaePs  whereabouts  save  that 
he  was  from  Arran  Towers.  My  lack  of  knowl 
edge  concerning  his  movements  occurred  by 
reason  of  a  new  trouble  which  broke  out  at  this 
time  between  his  father  and  Hugh  Pitcairn 
concerning  a  watercourse  which  crossed  the  ad 
joining  lands  of  both,  somewhere  back  in  the 
country.  The  water  was  of  no  use  to  Sandy, 
and  equally  valueless  to  Hugh ;  but  the  fact  that 
one  of  them  wanted  it  heightened  its  value  to 
the  other,  and  talk  went  back  and  forth,  with 
Sandy  deaving  my  ears  concerning  his  rights 
on  Monday,  and  Hugh  going  over  the  same 
ground,  looking  the  other  way,  on  Tuesday, 
[298] 


CHAP.  XXIII  NANCY   STAIR 

until  I  was  driven  from  Stair  and  avoided  both, 
spending  my  time  at  the  clubs,  the  coffee-houses, 
or  with  Creech  and  his  queer  old  books. 

Coming  down  the  steps  of  his  shop  on  the 
morning  of  the  twelfth  of  February — I  recall 
the  date  because  it  was  the  beginning  of  all  the 
troublous  times  at  Stair — I  encountered  James 
Gordon,  looking  both  worried  and  perplexed. 

"  John,"  said  he,  "  you  are  the  very  man  to 
help  me  from  an  embarrassing  position.  My 
wife  and  daughter  have  been  taken  with  a 
fever;  our  town-house  is  small,  and  I  have  in 
vited  Borthwicke  to  stay  with  us  during  the 
meeting  of  the  Lighthouse  Commission " 

"  Let  me  have  him  at  Stair,"  I  cried.  "  Nan 
cy  is  from  home,  I  am  leading  a  bachelor  life, 
and  you  will  be  showing  a  kindness  to  send  me 
such  good  company  as  John  Montrose." 

In  this  entirely  unplanned  manner  the  duke 
became  my  visitor,  and  I  found  him  a  merry 
companion,  easy,  accessible,  agreeable;  prais 
ing  my  wines,  naming  my  house  the  most  attrac 
tive  place  in  Scotland,  and  my  daughter  the 
most  wonderful  woman  in  the  world;  and  I 
wandered  abroad  no  more,  but  stayed  at  home, 
like  a  cream-fed  cat  by  the  fireside,  his 
[299] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXITI 

grace  making  the  time  gay  with  his  tales,  his 
wit,  and  his  worldly  wisdom.  He  urged  me 
to  accompany  the  commission  to  the  northern 
coasts,  and  one  day,  when  I  was  debating 
whether  to  join  in  this  expedition  or  to  go  down 
to  the  West  and  visit  Nancy,  the  girl  settled  the 
question  for  me  herself  hy  appearing  at  Stair, 
and  at  the  first  sight  of  her  my  heart  sank  within 
me.  She  had  become  much  thinner,  there  was 
the  pallor  of  sickness  in  her  face,  and  a  weak 
ness  both  in  voice  and  body  as  she  clung  to  me, 
telling  me  her  joy  at  seeing  me  again  and  that 
she  would  never  leave  me  more.  The  news  of 
Borthwicke's  presence  in  the  house  she  received 
with  some  surprise,  which  showed  neither  pleas 
ure  nor  regret,  going  immediately  to  her  rooms, 
however,  making  her  long  journey  an  excuse 
for  dining  alone. 

It  was  after  luncheon  on  the  following  day 
that  old  Dr.  McMurtrie  came  into  the  library 
and  addressed  me,  with  some  heat  and  scant 
apology. 

"  John,"  said  he,  looking  at  me  over  his 
glasses,  "  I  am  going  to  make  myself  disagree 
able.  I  am  going  to  be  that  damned  nuisance, 
a  candid  friend;  but  somebody's  got  to  speak 
[300] 


CHAP.  XXIII  NANCY    STAIR 

to  you,  for  you're  just  letting  that  girl  of  yours 
kill  herself." 

I  stared  at  him  in  speechless  wonderment. 

"  She's  killing  herself,"  he  went  on,  relent 
lessly.  "  And  when  it's  too  late  you'll  see  the 
truth  of  it.  No  girl's  body  is  equal  to  the  ex 
citement  she's  had  for  years,  ever  since  she  was 
a  baby,  in  fact,  with  her  charities  and  her  Burn- 
folking  and  her  verse-writing.  It's  all  damned 
nonsense,"  he  summed  up,  succinctly,  "  and  it's 
for  you  to  stop  it. 

"  Instead  of  helping  her  get  out  a  second 
edition  of  poems,"  he  went  on,  "  ye'd  show  more 
sense  if  you  put  your  mind  to  considering  the 
problem  of  how  much  work  a  woman  can  do  in 
justice  to  the  race.  Every  female  creature  is 
in  all  probability  the  repository  of  unborn  gen 
erations,  and  should  be  trained  to  think  of  that 
solemn  fact  as  a  man  is  taught  to  think  of  his 
country." 

"  Some  women,"  I  answered,  testily,  "  are 
forced  to  work  daily  at  laborious  tasks  to  sup 
port  families " 

"  And  others,"  he  interrupted,  "  squeeze  their 
feet  and  give  each  other  poison;  but  they  are 
not  my  patients,  and  Nancy  Stair  is.  And  I 
[  301  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIII 

think  you'll  find  that  the  women  who  work,  as 
ye  say,  do  most  of  it  with  their  bodies,  not 
with  their  heads  or  their  nerves,  and  it's  in 
work  of  this  kind  the  trouble  of  female  labor 
lies.  Nancy  should  save  her  vitality.  She 
should  store  it  up  for  wifehood  and  mother 
hood.  She'll  be  a  spent  woman  before  she  has 
a  husband,  and  your  grandchildren  puny  young 
sters  as  a  resulting.  Think  it  over,  John,"  he 
concluded ;  "  think  it  over." 

He  was  scarce  out  of  the  house  when  Nancy 
appeared  from  the  garden,  coming  over  to  the 
place  I  sat  to  put  her  hand  on  my  shoulder. 

"  I'm  thinking  of  marrying  John  Montrose, 
Jock,"  she  said,  with  no  introduction  whatever. 

"Ye  have  my  own  gentle  way  of  breaking 
news  to  people,  Little  Flower,"  I  said ;  and  then  ,• 
"Do  you  love  him,  Nancy?  Or,  what  is  more 
to  the  point,  are  you  in  love  with  him?  " 

"  Neither,"  she  responded ;  "  but  I  have 
grown  to  believe  in  him,  in  spite  of  his  past, 
and  love  may  come,"  and  here  she  clasped  her 
hands  together  and  her  eyes  widened  with  pain 
as  she  said :  "  I  have  had  a  great  temptation, 
Daddy.  A  great  temptation,  and  I  want  to  put 
away  any  chance  of  it  ever  coming  to  me  again. 
[3O2] 


CHAP.  XXIII  NANCY    STAIR 

I  could  be  true  to  another  always  when  I  might 
not " 

"  Nancy,"  I  interrupted,  drawing  her  down 
on  my  knee,  "  there  is  no  greater  mistake  a 
woman  can  make  than  to  think  that  marrying 
one  man  will  help  her  to  forget  another;  for 
there  is  just  one  thing  worse  than  not  having 
the  man  you  want,  and  that  is  having  the  man 
you  don't  want.  And  if  you're  not  in  love  with 
Montrose,  you'll  never  get  my  consent  to  the 
wedding,  not  if  he  were  the  Prince  himself." 

On  the  morning  following  these  talks  the 
duke,  who  was  still  with  us,  sent  excuses  to  the 
breakfast-room  that  he  had  passed  an  uneasy 
night  and  would  rest  until  noon;  and  his  valet, 
who  brought  this  message,  ended  by  saying: 

"His  grace  is  not  well.  His  grace  should 
have  a  doctor,  for  he  had  the  bleeding  from  the 
lungs  again  last  night,  although  it  would  be 
worth  my  place  if  he  knew  I  mentioned  it  to 
your  lordship." 

In  our  foggy  country  a  little  throat  trouble 
is  no  great  matter,  but  I  ordered  my  horse  for 
town,  meaning  to  get  McMurtrie  out,,  as  if  by 
accident,  to  see  what  attentions  the  duke  might 
require ;  and  riding  in  some  haste  by  the  Bridge 
[303] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIII 

end,  found  a  group  of  men,  with  papers  in  their 
hands,  discussing  some  bit  of  news  with  much 
interest.  As  I  drew  near  them,  Dundas  waved 
the  journal  at  me  and  called  out: 

"  Our  congratulations,  John." 

I  reined  in  my  horse,  asking  the  very  natural 
question,  upon  what  I  was  to  be  congratulated, 
when  Blake  handed  me  a  copy  of  The  Lounger, 
indicating  a  certain  paragraph  for  me  to  read. 
The  notice  began: 

"  We  understand  that  the  long-expected  be 
trothal  between  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke  and 
Mistress  Nancy  Stair,  only  daughter  of  Lord 
Stair,  is  announced,"  the  penny-a-liner  going 
on  with  much  wordiness  to  state  the  time  and 
place  fixed  fo»r  the  coming  marriage,  and  even 
the  shops  in  London  from  which  the  trousseau 
was  to  come. 

"  Gentlemen,"  I  cried,  "  upon  my  honor  there 
is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  all  of  this,"  and,  secur 
ing  a  copy  of  the  miserable  sheet,  turned  back 
to  Stair  to  discover  from  Nancy  whether  to 
deny  the  announcement  by  direct  statement  or 
let  the  rumor  die  in  silence. 

I  entered  the  house  by  the  side  door  which 
leads  to  the  music-room,  outside  of  which  I 
[3041 


CHAP.  XXIII  NANCY    STAIR 

paused,  astonished  at  the  sound  of  angry  and 
excited  voices  within  the  apartment.  As  I  lis 
tened,  wondering  if  some  new  trouble  was  upon 
us,  I  recognized  Danvers  CarmichaePs  tone, 
and  almost  upon  the  instant  of  this  recognition, 
heard  him  cry  out: 

"  I  will  save  you  the  promising,  for  I  swear 
he  shall  never  live  to  marry  you !  " 

His  Grace  of  Borthwicke  being  within  pos 
sible  earshot  of  this  altercation,  I  decided  to 
leave  Danvers  to  Nancy's  management,  and  hur 
ried  up  the  winding  stairs  to  hold  the  duke's 
attention  until  Danvers  had  left  the  house. 

Looking  down  into  the  main  hall  as  I  as 
cended  the  stair  I  saw  Hugh  Pitcairn  rise  from 
a  couch  upon  which  he  had  been  lying  and  cross 
to  the  far  window  with  some  suddenness  of 
manner,  and  knew  by  instinct  that  he  had  realized 
the  talk  was  not  intended  for  his  ears,  and  had 
hastily  changed  his  position,  like  the  man  of 
honor  that  he  was. 

Finding  that  the  duke  had  not  left  his  apart 
ment  in  my  absence  I  crossed  to  my  own  room, 
where  I  was  not  alone  above  five  minutes  before 
Nancy  joined  me. 

"  Mr.  Pitcairn  is  below,  waiting  for  the 
21  [  305  ] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXIII 

duke  to  affix  some  signatures,"  she  said;  and 
then: 

"Danvers  Carmichael  has  been  here,  too. 
He  saw  an  announcement  in  The  Lounger  that 
I  was  betrothed  to  his  Grace  of  Borthwicke,  and 
came  by  to  tell  me — as  you  did  yourself,"  she 
ended,  with  a  smile,  "  that  the  wedding  would 
have  to  take  place  without  his  approval." 


[  306  ] 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE   MUKDER 

UP  to  this  point  there  are  many  events 
which  I  have  drawn  with  blurred  edges  by  rea 
son  of  the  distance  of  time;  but  from  this  to 
the  end  of  my  story  I  have  the  pettiest  details 
of  it  in  mind,  many  of  them  with  a  horrid 
distinctness. 

On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-third  the  Arm 
strongs  held  a  dance  in  honor  of  the  marriage 
of  their  daughter  Jean  with  one  of  John  Gra 
ham's  lads,  and  a  number  of  young  folks  were 
bid  to  dinner  before  this  festivity  should  begin, 
Nancy  being  one  of  the  number.  His  Grace  of 
Borthwicke  and  I  were  asked  for  the  dancing, 
a  courtesy  which  he  declined  by  reason  of  his 
indisposition,  as  well  as  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  to  start  for  the  Highlands  in  the  morning. 
Almost  immediately  after  our  dinner  he  ex 
cused  himself  to  me,  saying  that  an  important 
letter  must  be  got  off  on  the  early  post.  And 
[307] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

his  breeding  was  shown  in  the  fact  that  he 
allowed  no  doubt  to  remain  with  me  that  this 
was  any  invented  excuse  to  avoid  my  society, 
for  he  stated  to  whom  the  epistle  was  destined, 
and  the  need  for  its  immediate  sending,  a  point 
of  conduct  which  seemed  to  me  gentlemanly  in 
the  extreme. 

"  It's  a  letter  to  Pitt,"  he  said. 

"Ye  are  great  friends  now,  are  ye  not? "  I 
asked. 

"  He  is  the  nearest  friend  I  have  in  all  the 
world,"  he  answered.  "  "We  are  both  rhymesters," 
he  added  with  a  smile.  "But  this  letter  is  a 
business  one,  for  I  have  advices  from  France 
for  which  he  is  waiting,  and  they  must  be  sent 
in  cipher  because  of  the  trouble  brewing  in  that 
country.  If  I  do  not  get  the  letter  off  to-night  he 
may  not  receive  it  for  a  fortnight,  as  he  accom 
panies  his  Majesty  to  the  country  on  Friday." 

"Why  not  send  it  by  special  carrier?"  I 
asked. 

"It's  not  important  enough  for  that,"  he 
answered  lightly,  as  he  crossed  to  Nancy's  writ 
ing-room,  which  had  been  given  to  his  use  as 
an  office  during  her  absence  at  Allan-lough. 

Left  with  the  evening  on  my  hands,  I  set 
[3O8] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY   STAIR 

out  for  Creech's  with  no  weightier  purpose  than 
to  divert  myself  and  have  some  merry  talk  over 
a  bowl  of  punch;  but,  as  I  entered,  Blake,  who 
was  throwing  dice  with  Dundas  at  the  other  end 
of  the  room,  called  to  me  to  ask  if  I  had  heard 
whether  Mr.  Pitcairn  was  better. 

"Is  he  ill?"  I  asked  in  surprise,  as  it  was 
but  the  morning  before  he  was  at  Stair. 

"  He  was  carried  from  the  court  this  after 
noon,"  he  answered,  and  at  the  words  I  took 
up  my  coat  and  started  for  Pitcairn's  house  to 
see  if  there  was  some  help  that  I  could  offer. 
I  found  him  wrapped  in  flannels  in  front  of  a 
great  fire  in  his  own  chamber,  in  as  vile  a  frame 
of  mind  as  I  have  ever  seen  any  human  being, 
bearing  his  indisposition  as  unphilosophically 
as  I  might  have  done  myself,  and  I  spent  a  highly 
uncomfortable,  dry,  and  sober  evening  with 
him,  escaping  from  his  society  somewhere  at 
the  back  of  the  midnight  with  a  feeling  of  relief 
and  the  intention  of  getting  something  to  drink. 
Going  down,  unattended,  I  pulled  the  house- 
door  hard  after  me  to  close  it  for  the  night, 
when  Pitcairn  called  me  from  the  window  above 
to  ask  that  I  stop  by  the  chemist's  and  hurry 
along  a  draught  for  which  he  was  waiting. 
[309] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

A  light  and  tricksey  snow  had  begun  to  fall 
while  I  was  in  the  house;  snow  which  blew  in 
gusts,  now  from  one  side,  now  from  another; 
snow  which  came  crosswise,  to  be  caught  by  the 
high  wind  and  carried  up  to  the  tops  of  the 
houses ;  and  over  all  and  around  all  the  fog  of 
the  sea  and  beaten  bells  sounding  far  away,  as 
of  ships  in  trouble  or  as  warnings  from  the 
shore. 

I  pulled  my  hat  over  my  eyes,  turned  the 
collar  of  my  great-coat  around  my  ears,  and 
took  to  the  middle  of  the  road,  looking  round 
warily  from  side  to  side  to  make  sure  that  I 
was  followed  by  none,  for  the  town  had  been 
greatly  excited  during  this  winter  by  statements 
in  the  public  prints  of  mysterious  disappear 
ances.  Folks  had  been  suddenly  missed  from 
their  own  doorways,  of  whom  no  subsequent 
traces  could  be  found;  visitors  entering  the 
city  were  lost  sight  of;  Irish  haymakers  on 
their  road  to  the  agricultural  districts  of  the 
lowlands  had  disappeared  from  their  compan 
ions  as  if  by  magic,  and  suspicions  of  a  dreadful 
nature  were  abroad.* 

It  was  a  uncanny  night,  black  as   chaos; 

*  Benson's  Noted  Trials. 

[310] 


CHAP,  XXIV  NANCY   STAIR 

and  with  my  mind  excited  by  these  horrid  tales, 
I  hurried  along  to  the  chemist's,  whose  man  was 
outside  putting  up  the  shutters.  I  stated  my 
errand  to  the  doctor,  who  said  he  would  carry 
the  medicine  himself,  as  Mr.  Pitcairn's  house 
lay  on  the  road  to  another  patient  with  whom 
he  had  promised  to  pass  the  night.  This  occur 
rence  seems  of  small  moment,  and  I  but  set  it 
down  to  show  how  slight  a  thing  may  turn  many 
lives,  for  it  was  this  very  dose  of  rhubarb  and 
jalap  which  brought  about  much  of  the  trouble 
toward  which  we  were  drawing. 

Starting  again  toward  Stair  I  came  directly 
upon  some  of  the  town-guard,  who,  with  flam 
ing  torches  held  aloft,  were  carrying  a  couple 
of  drunken  wretches  to  the  gaol.  Turning  to 
look  after  them  I  became  aware  that  a  man  had 
stepped  from  the  shadow  and  was  walking  be 
side  me,  going  in  the  same  direction,  but  at  a 
much  quicker  gait  than  my  own.  By  the  uncer 
tain  flare  of  the  torches  I  saw  that  he  was  tall, 
carried  himself  with  distinction,  and,  what 
seemed  markedly  strange  on  such  a  night,  wore 
no  covering  whatever  upon  his  head.  I  felt 
that  he  noted  me  not  at  all,  and  as  the  gloom 
swallowed  him  up,  saw  him  throw  out  his  hand 
[311] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

with  a  significant  gesture,  as  of  one  who  has 
neither  hope  nor  courage. 

It  was  this  motion  which  made  my  heart 
give  a  sudden  leap  and  set  it  throbbing  light 
and  quick  in  my  throat,  for  the  belief  came  to 
me  that  the  stranger  was  none  other  than  Dan- 
vers  Carmichael,  though  any  reasonable  expla 
nation  for  his  being  abroad  alone  at  such  an 
hour  and  going  toward  Stair  was  far  from 
clear  to  me.  My  first  thought  was  to  call  out 
to  him,  but  a  bit  of  caution  held  me  back,  and 
upon  thinking  it  over  I  made  sure  that  my  eyes 
and  the  fog  had  combined  to  deceive  me,  and  I 
put  the  thing  out  of  my  mind  altogether  and 
hurried  on  toward  home.  Nearing  the  house  I 
kept  close  to  the  high  stone  wall  for  protection 
against  the  wind,  thinking  to  enter  the  grounds 
from  the  lower  carriage-way,  but  the  gates  were 
closed,  and  I  was  forced  to  the  main  gate,  the 
irons  of  which  were  swung  far  back. 

As  I  turned  into  the  path  my  eye  was  caught 
by  a  wide  cone  of  light  which  came  from  the 
window  of  the  room  in  which  I  had  left  his 
Grace  of  Borthwicke.  Looking  more  atten 
tively,  I  saw  to  my  amazement  that  the  window 
nearest  the  writing-table  was  wide  open,  and  I 
[313] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIK 

thought  to  go  directly  to  this  place,  for  there 
was  a  low  porch  outside  from  which  an  entrance 
to  the  house  could  be  effected.  I  had  started 
across  the  lawn  when  I  heard  a  pistol  shot,  fol 
lowed  by  a  pause,  and  then  another,  quick  upon 
the  heels  of  the  first,  which  had  seemed  to  come 
from  the  house.  But  the  second,  whether  be 
cause  of  my  confusion  of  mind  or  the  blowing 
of  the  wind,  appeared  to  have  been  somewhere 
behind  me,  and  with  a  thought  for  my  own 
safety  I  stepped  under  some  frozen  vines  which 
hung  above  the  gateway.  As  I  did  so,  a  small 
figure,  coming  from  I  know  not  what  direction, 
passed  through  the  cone  of  light.  It  ran  low 
to  the  ground  and  light,  and  with  incredible 
swiftness  disappeared  somewhere  in  the  rose- 
garden  by  the  south  wall.  Then  a  silence  fell, 
and  for  a  few  seconds  I  stood  waiting  to  hear 
a  disturbance  in  the  house,  but  finding  naught 
happening  I  ran  up  the  path  in  a  preternatural 
hurry  of  spirits,  and  set  the  knocker  of  the 
main  door  clanging  so  that  it  might  disturb 
the  dead. 

Even  with  all  this  racketing  it  was  full  five 
minutes  before  Huey  MacGrath  stuck  his  head, 
with  a  white  nightcap  upon  it,  from  the  attic 
[313] 


NANCY   STAIE  CHAP.  XXIV 

window,  holding  a  lighted  candle  high  in  his 
hand  as  he  peered  into  the  dark. 

"  I'll  have  ye  arrestit !  "  he  called  down. 

"  Whist,  Huey !  "  I  cried.  "  It's  I,  the  laird 
himself.  There're  burglars  in  the  house !  " 

"  Ye've  no  been  drinkin' ?  "  he  shouted  back, 
questioningly. 

"  Didn't  ye  hear  the  shots  1 "  I  asked. 

"I  heard  nothing,"  he  answered  in  an  un 
convinced  manner. 

"Do  you  want  to  be  murdered  in  your 
bed?"  I  called  up  to  him,  "rather  than  come 
down  to  see  what's  going  about?  " 

"There's  just  naething  the  matter  at  all," 
he  returned.  "  Ye've  been  drinkin'.  Is  Rab 
Burns  with  ye?  "  he  asked,  resting  his  elbows 
imperturbably  on  the  window-ledge. 

His  conduct,  in  my  excited  state,  enraged 
me  to  the  extent  of  using  language  which  ac 
quainted  him  with  my  wishes  if  not  with  my 
sobriety,  and  I  noted  him  withdraw  his  head 
hastily,  and  the  light  grow  bright  and  dim,  and 
bright  again,  in  his  turning  of  the  stairs,  before 
the  bars  were  let  down  and  the  door  opened 
to  me. 

"  There's  just  naething  the  matter  at  all," 
[314] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIR 

was  his  greeting.  "  Aye,  ye  will  have  been 
drinkin' ! " 

Although  he  carried  such  a  brave  front  I 
saw  that  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to  bring 
an  old  blunderbuss  with  him,  and  two  of  the 
serving-men,  who  appeared  from  a  rear  stair 
way  in  a  sleep-befuddled  condition. 

As  we  stood  in  the  silence  of  the  great  dark 
hall  a  fear  came  over  me  that  I  had  up-turned 
the  house  to  no  purpose,  but  underneath  it  lay 
the  premonition  of  a  great  trouble,  a  feeling 
so  strong  that  I  was  unable  to  put  it  by.  The 
doors  on  both  sides  of  the  hall  were  closed,  and 
there  was  no  light  save  one  small  gleam  which 
trickled  from  the  keyhole  of  Nancy's  writing- 
room.  Advancing  to  the  door  I  rapped  boldly 
upon  it,  and  waited  for  the  duke  to  bid  me 
enter;  no  voice  answered,  nor  was  any  sound 
to  be  heard  save  the  tick,  tick,  tick  of  a  great 
clock  that  stood  near.  Again  I  beat  upon  the 
door,  and  called  Montrose  loudly  by  name,  and 
with  baited  breath  listened  to  the  tick-ticking  of 
the  clock,  and  nothing  else. 

"He's  fell  asleep,"  Huey  suggested,  and 
upon  this,  thinking  the  door  locked,  I  threw  my 
weight  against  it,  precipitating  myself  into  the 
[315] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

room  with  unnecessary  violence,  to  find  the 
duke  sitting  at  the  desk,  his  head  thrown  hack 
upon  the  cushions,  and  one  hand  on  the  arm  of 
the  great  chair  in  an  attitude  of  peaceful  slum 
ber.  But  there  came  to  me  a  dread  of  the  sleep 
which  could  keep  a  man  of  his  temperament  un 
conscious  while  the  house  was  being  pulled 
ahout  his  ears.  As  I  drew  nearer  to  him  the 
wind  from  the  opened  casement  hlew  the  cur 
tains  far  into  the  room  and  rustled  the  papers 
on  the  tahle,  the  light  of  which  was  pushed  back 
and  the  papers  redd  up,  as  if  the  business  of 
the  evening  were  by  with. 

I  stepped  softly  to  the  sitting  man  and 
touched  him  on  the  shoulder,  and,  as  I  did  so, 
fell  back  with  a  loud  cry,  while  a  voice  with 
which  I  seemed  to  have  nothing  to  do  cried  out : 

"He's  been  murdered!  He's  shot!  He's 
dead!" 

I  can  not  recall  what  other  words  this  per- 
sonless  voice  cried  out,  but  I  know  that  7  stood 
staring  at  this  man  who  but  a  few  hours  before 
had  been  so  hated,  feared,  aye,  and  admired; 
staring  at  his  dreadful  pallor,  his  inhuman  re 
pose,  and  his  inscrutable  smile,  as  he  sat  be 
fore  me  with  the  blood  trickling  down  the  sic^e 
[316] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIR 

of  his  face  from  a  bullet-hole  just  over  the 
temple. 

In  the  first  sight  I  had  of  him  I  knew  that 
he  was  dead;  the  feeling  of  death  was  around 
him;  there  was  death  in  the  air,  in  the  awful 
serenity  of  the  pale  face,  in  the  hands  which  lay 
motionless  and  relaxed,  as  if  surrendering  all; 
in  the  faint  smile,  as  though  Death  himself  had 
come  before  the  great  man's  vision  and  had 
been  regarded  calmly  before  his  work  was 
done;  and  while  the  four  of  us  were  standing, 
drunk  with  fear  at  this  awful  sight,  there  came 
to  us  the  sound  of  carriage- wheels  and  gay 
voices,  and  before  the  power  of  action  was  with 
any  of  us,  Nancy  stood  in  the  doorway,  her  eyes 
filled  with  laughter,  her  scarlet  lips  curved 
backward  in  a  smile  as  she  came  forward  to 
the  place  where  I  stood. 

"  Are  ye  giving  a  ball  while  the  mistress  of 
the  house  is  from  home !  "  she  inquired,  gayly ; 
and,  as  the  queerness  of  our  actions  struck  her : 
"What  is  it?"  she  cried;  and  again,  "What 
is  it?" 

To  save  her,  some  power  of  thought  came 
back  to  my  disordered  mind. 

"  Come  away,  Nancy !  Come  away  with 
[317] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

me ! "  I  cried ;  but  before  I  could  reach  her  she 
had  moved  forward  toward  the  dead,  her  head 
lowered,  her  eyes  widened  with  terror,  and  at 
sight  of  the  blood  clapped  her  hands  over  her 
eyes  to  shut  out  the  horrid  sight,  and  went 
white,  and  but  for  me  would  have  fallen. 

The  telling  of  this  takes  longer  than  the 
acting  of  it,  for  it  was  less  than  a  minute 
before  she  called,  with  some  authority  in  her 
tone : 

"  Send  them  away,  Jock.  Send  them  all 
away !  Leave  me  alone  with  him." 

I  motioned  the  men  from  the  room.  It 
was  the  common  belief  that  his  grace  was 
Nancy's  accepted  lover,  and  there  seemed  noth 
ing  strange  in  her  request  to  be  alone  with  him. 
As  I  came  back  she  held  me  by  the  sleeve. 

"  Have  you  found  anything — "  she  began. 
"  Do  you  know  of  anybody?  " 

"  Nothing  has  been  found,"  I  answered,  and 
a  look  passed  between  us  which  told  me  that 
my  dread  was  her  own. 

"  Jock,  darling,"  she  went  on,  "  stay  here ! 
but  don't  see  anything  you  may  have  to  tell  of 
afterward,"  and  a  vision  of  the  hatless  man  in 
the  snow  came  back  to  me  at  her  words. 
[318] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIR 

"  Fetch  me  some  water,"  she  went  on,  "  and 
let  none  come  in  but  you." 

I  stood  holding  the  door  ajar  while  the  water 
for  which  she  asked  was  being  brought;  but 
though  my  back  was  toward  her  I  knew  she 
made  a  hasty  move  between  the  open  window 
and  the  desk,  and  as  I  drew  near  again  she 
pointed  out  a  pistol  lying  directly  under  the 
duke's  left  hand,  at  sight  of  which  I  fell  back  with 
a  cry  of  dismay,  for  it  was  one  of  a  brace  which  I 
had  given  Danvers  Carmichael  on  his  birthday 
two  years  before. 

How  this  could  have  escaped  my  sight  at 
the  first  look  I  had  of  the  dead  was  a  thing  I 
could  not  understand,  for  it  lay  well  in  the 
light,  and  by  its  reflections  would  naturally  be 
an  object  to  hold  the  eye,  and  even  in  my  con 
fusion  of  mind  I  felt  certain  that  it  had  been 
placed  there  since  my  first  entrance  to  the  room. 

Turning  to  Nancy  for  some  explanation,  I 
found  her  conduct  of  a  piece  with  the  rest  of 
her  life,  for  every  power  of  her  mind  was 
focused  on  present  action,  and  there  was  some 
thing  unnatural,  beyond  belief,  and  not  like  a 
feminine  creature,  in  the  manner  with  which 
she  stood  regarding  each  object  in  the  room, 
[319] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXIV 

and  at  sight  of  this  self-control  McMurtrie's 
talk  came  back  to  me. 

"  I  will  not  have  you  here,"  I  cried,  putting 
my  arm  around  her  to  lead  her  away.  "  It's 
horrible — horrible  to  think  of  such  a  trial  for 
you,"  to  which  she  paid  no  heed  whatever, 
drawing  herself  from  me  in  silence,  to  cross  to 
the  open  window  and  peer  out  into  the  night. 

"Thank  God!"  she  cried,  "it's  snowing  in 
clouds.  It  will  be  a  foot  deep  by  morning! 
But  we  must  make  an  effort  to  search  the 
grounds.  We  must  seem  to  leave  nothing  un 
done,"  and  the  thought  being  conceived,  it  was 
executed  on  the  instant. 

"Why  do  you  stand  doing  nothing?"  she 
cried,  throwing  the  door  back  and  confronting 
the  huddled  servants.  "  Get  your  lanterns  out, 
and  the  coach-lamps  as  well ;  the  murderer  may 
not  be  far  gone.  Search  the  carriage-way  to 
ward  the  town,"  she  called  twice,  and  even  in 
the  confusion  I  knew  she  was  sending  them  as 
far  from  the  road  to  Arran  as  she  could. 

Father  Michel,  Jamie  Henderlin,  and  some 

other  of  the  burn  people  had  arrived  by  this 

time,  but  it  was  Nancy  who  thought  for  all  of 

us,  refusing  to  go  to  her  rooms,  and  insisting 

[320] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIR 

upon  taking  a  part  in  the  search  with  us.  Aside 
from  the  strain  upon  her,  I  was  grateful  in  my 
soul  for  this  determination,  for  laws  and  courts 
and  country  notwithstanding,  my  mind  was 
fixed  to  do  everything  possible  to  prevent  sus 
picion  falling  on  the  son  of  Alexander  Car- 
michael,  who,  I  began  to  fear,  would  be  accused 
of  a  hand  in  the  affair. 

During  the  rest  of  the  night,  through  all  the 
talk  and  the  searching  of  the  grounds,  there 
were  two  lines  of  thought  in  my  mind,  the  one 
planning,  explaining,  and  excusing  Danvers, 
the  other  seeming  to  assist  in  present  conduct 
and  to  suggest  immediate  courses  of  action. 

It  was  Nancy  herself  who  was  first  upon  the 
little  balcony  of  the  window  by  which  the  dead 
man  was  still  sitting.  Father  Michel,  Huey 
MacGrath,  and  I  followed,  and  going  down  the 
steps  I  struck  my  foot  against  some  light  object, 
kicking  it  far  ahead  of  me,  and  on  the  instant 
Nancy  sprang  forward,  leaned  over  and  picked 
up  something  in  the  snow. 

"What  is  it?"  I  cried. 

She  held  out  to  me  the  piece  of  lace  she  had 
worn  as  a  head  covering  to  the  dance — held  it 
far  out,  so  that  all  could  see  what  it  was,  but 
22  [  331  ] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  XXfV 

made  no  response  in  words — and  after  the  fruit 
less  search  was  finished  consented  to  go  to 
her  room.  As  I  stood  by  her  door,  undecided 
whether  or  not  to  tell  her  of  the  hatless  man  I 
had  met  in  the  snow,  she  suddenly  threw  her 
arms  wide  apart  and  dropped  unconscious  at 
my  feet.  I  lifted  her  up,  wild  with  this  new 
anxiety,  and  as  I  did  so  the  lace  unrolled,  and 
from  it  fell  a  cap,  with  snow  upon  it,  a  man's 
cap  with  a  strangely  embroidered  band  which 
Nancy  had  worked  for  Danvers  Carmichael  the 
summer  before.  At  sight  of  it  I  could  have 
cried  out  as  a  woman  does,  for  I  knew  it  to  be 
the  object  I  had  struck  with  my  foot  under  the 
window,  and  the  last  hope  for  Danvers  Car 
michael  seemed  to  vanish  from  my  mind  at 
sight  of  it. 

Her  consciousness  was  not  long  in  return 
ing,  and  before  it  came  back  I  had  wrapped  the 
cap  in  the  lace  again,  trusting  her  woman's  wit 
to  do  the  wise  thing  concerning  it. 

"Leave  me  alone,  Jock,"  she  said  suddenly, 
as  to  my  amazement  she  went  to  the  wash- 
hand-stand,  filled  the  basin  with  cold  water,  and 
dipped  the  whole  top  of  her  curly  head  into  it. 

"  There  must  be  no  trifling  with  headaches 
[322] 


CHAP.  XXIV  NANCY    STAIR 

to-night !  "  she  explained.  "  I've  others  to  think 
of  than  myself.  Pray  for  me,  dearest ! "  she 
cried,  putting  her  hands  on  my  breast  and  look 
ing  up  pleadingly  in  my  eyes.  "  Pray  for  your 
little  girl,  as  she  sits  here  all  alone.  Pray  that 
I  may  have  presence  of  mind !  "  and  God  knows 
the  awe  I  felt  as  I  saw  the  courage  and  spirit 
in  that  slim  girlish  body. 

"Nancy,"  said  I,  for  I  felt  that  without 
words,  we  were  banded  together  for  the  pro 
tection  of  a  life  dear  to  both  of  us,  "  with  your 
knowledge  of  the  law — "  but  before  I  could  fin 
ish  she  interrupted  me: 

"  Yesterday  in  my  presence  Danvers  Car- 
michael  threatened  the  duke's  life  not  once  but 
many  times,  with  Pitcairn  lying  just  outside 
the  door.  The  law!  "  she  cried.  "  It's  not  the 
law  I'm  afraid  of — it's  Hugh  Pitcairn  1 " 


[323] 


CHAPTER   XXV 

THE  TBIAL, 

THE  great  duke  lay  in  state  in  St.  Giles,  and 
the  Highlands  emptied  themselves  into  Edin 
burgh  demanding  justice.  The  lady-mother  of 
the  dead  was  there,  broken-hearted,  and  Per- 
cival  Montrose,  to  whom  the  title  fell;  and  I 
had  a  fine  taste  of  the  fealty  of  Gaelic-folk,  for 
kinsfolk  and  clansfolk  took  the  duke's  undoing 
as  a  personal  affront,  and  put  their  own  matters 
by  to  get  some  one  hanged  for  it. 

The  streets,  especially  those  around  the 
courts,  were  thronged  with  the  late  duke's  fol 
lowing;  unkempt,  hot-eyed,  bare-legged  gillies 
were  grouped  at  every  corner,  glowering  under 
their  tartan  bonnets ;  I  found  a  huddle  of  them 
squatted  behind  some  alders  on  the  Burnside, 
and  came  upon  another  set  by  the  carriage-way, 
who  glared  at  me  as  I  passed  them  as  if  I  had 
had  some  part  in  the  undoing  of  their  clans 
man. 

During  this  time  Nancy  lay  ill,  for  which, 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

strange  as  it  seems,  I  praised  God,  for  the  sick 
ness  saved  her  from  the  horrors  of  the  coroner's 
inquest,  McMurtrie  coming  to  my  aid  in  the 
matter  by  declaring  it  worth  her  life  to  be 
dragged  into  the  affair.  There  was  nothing 
more  definite  elicited  from  this  tribunal,  consti 
tuted  largely  of  men  under  heavy  obligations 
either  to  Sandy  or  myself,  than  "  Death  at  the 
hands  of  a  person  or  persons  unknown,"  but 
the  relief  which  came  with  the  verdict  was  of 
short  duration. 

How  rumor  is  bred  none  can  tell,  but  on  the 
day  following  the  coroner's  findings  there  was 
a  waif-word  wandering  about  that  Danvers 
Carmichael  knew  more  than  he  had  told  of  the 
duke's  taking  off;  and  whether  bred  by  serv 
ants'  gossip  or  the  talk  of  the  fool  chemist- 
doctor  who  had  taken  the  medicine  to  Pitcairn 
on  the  night  of  the  murder  and  encountered 
Danvers  hatless  in  the  snow,  I  can  not  say ;  but 
by  the  evening  there  rose  a  strong  demand  for 
his  arrest,  and  two  officers  appeared  at  Arran 
and  took  the  lad  into  custody. 

Nancy,  who  had  not  left  her  room  from  that 
dreadful  night,  but  who  had  recovered  herself 
enough  to  sit  up  a  little  at  a  time,  received  the 
[335] 


NANCY    STATE  CHAP.  XXV 

news  in  silence,  asking  if  it  were  possible  for 
me  to  get  the  exact  testimony  given  before  the 
coroner  for  her  to  see;  and  going  through  it. 
sitting  in  the  bed,  with  flushed  face  and  fever- 
ish  eyes. 

"It's  not  so  bad,"  she  said,  as  she  put  it 
aside ;  "  not  so  bad.  Will  ye  ride  out  and  ask 
Mr.  Pitcairn  to  come  to  me  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Pitcairn?  Ye'll  not  be  wanting  Pitcairn," 
I  answered.  "  It's  Magendie  we  are  having  up 
from  London  for  the  defense." 

"I  —  want  —  to  —  see  —  Mr.  —  Pitcairn," 
she  said  slowly. 

"  1  don't  understand  at  all,"  I  answered. 
"When  you  refuse  to  see  Sandy,  who,  in  his 
own  great  distress,  has  never  forgot  you  for  a 
moment,  I  don't  see  why  you  should  be  sending 
for  Pitcairn." 

"  I  want  to  see  neither  Sandy  nor  any  of 
the  Arran  people,"  she  answered. 

"  And  you've  no  word  of  comfort  for  Dan- 
vers  ? "  I  asked. 

"  None,"  she  returned.  "  I  have  not  one 
word  of  comfort  or  anything  else  to  send  to 
Danvers  Carmichael,  and  I'd  like  to  have  it 
generally  known." 

[3261 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY   STAIR 

Although  I  saw  him  not,  I  knew  that  Pit- 
cairn  came  to  Stair  that  afternoon;  but,  before 
God,  by  no  message  carried  by  me;  and  the 
following  morning  I  visited  him  in  his  offices, 
finding  him  at  a  desk  in  the  inner  room  looking 
frozenly  out  under  his  dome-like  forehead  in  a 
way  to  suggest  that  his  natural  greeting  would 
be :  "  What  are  you  prepared  to  swear  to?  " 

"  Hugh,"  said  I,  "  ye've  doubtless  heard  of 
the  trouble  young  Mr.  Carmichael  is  in — "  here 
I  waited. 

He  nodded,  as  one  might  who  had  but  a 
certain  number  of  words  given  him  at  birth  and 
was  fearful  that  the  supply  might  run  out. 

"  It  has  occurred  to  me,"  I  went  on,  "  that 
your  old  friendship  for  me  and  my  old  friend 
ship  for  Sandy  being  common  knowledge,  ye 
might  show  a  fine  courtesy  by  standing  aside 
in  the  case  and  letting  Mr.  Inge  take  it  alto 
gether.  Such  a  thing  can  be  done,  I  know,  for 
when  the  Lord-President  himself  had  Fer- 
rars  to  try,  who  was  a  known  man  to  him,  he 
asked  to  be  relieved  from  presiding." 

"I  attended  to  the  duke's  affairs  when  he 
was  living.  I  shall  attend  to  them  now  that  he 
is  dead,"  he  replied  stolidly.  "There  is  an 
[337] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

ethical  side  to  the  matter  as  well,  for  I  believe 
him  to  have  been  killed  by  the  young—  '  he 
caught  himself  at  this,  with  a  correction.  "  I 
have  my  beliefs  in  the  case,"  he  amended.  "  But 
ye  can  rest  by  this,  if  a  man  is  innocent  of  a 
crime  in  this  country  he  can  prove  it.  It  is  a 
prosecution,  not  a  persecution,  that  will  be  con 
ducted  by  the  government." 

And  here  a  lighter  vein  seemed  to  take  him, 
for  he  added: 

"  And  so,  Jock  Stair,  you  would  come  to  me 
to  use  an  old  friendship  to  buy  the  laddie  off! 
Ye're  a  nice  citizen;  a  fine,  public-spirited 
body!" 

"  Hugh  Pitcairn,"  I  answered,  "  if  you  were 
in  trouble,  and  it  needed  the  last  shilling  I 
had  in  the  world  to  help  ye,  you'd  find  me  be 
side  ye,  with  it  held  out  in  my  hand;  and  it 
seems  a  little  thing  I  am  asking  of  you,  and 
not  for  myself  either 

"  Your  daughter's  a  better  man  than  you," 
he  broke  in  on  me.  "  It  was  a  fine  thing  she 
did — a  fine,  public- spirited  thing !  " 

"Ye've  trained  her  well  in  the  lawing,"  I 
said,  leading  him  on  a  bit,  for  Nancy  had  held 
the  silence  of  the  dead  concerning  the  murder 
[  328  ] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

since  the  day  of  his  visit,  and  I  had  no  knowl 
edge  of  what  he  meant. 

"  Mark  you,"  he  said,  and  there  was  almost 
a  glow  upon  his  face,  "  the  first  day  that  she 
was  able  to  sit  up  after  her  illness  Nancy  Stair 
sent  for  me.  '  Mr.  Pitcairn,'  said  she,  '  a  most 
unwelcome  task  has  come  to  me,  and  I  am  need 
ing  your  advice.'  And  on  this  she  went  over 
the  talk,  part  of  which  I  had  overheard,  between 
herself  and  the  young  Carmichael,  with  neither 
heat  nor  fallacy  of  emphasis,  as  accurately  as 
I  might  have  done  myself,"  he  ended,  as  though 
higher  praise  were  inconceivable. 

"There's  a  girl  for  ye!"  he  cried.  "I've 
set  but  little  store  by  her  verse-making;  or  her 
charity  work,  which  is  sentiment;  but  by  the 
lawing  the  very  female  quality  of  her  mind  has 
been  changed,  for  she  is  able  to  put  a  duty  to 
her  country  before  her  own  feelings.  Ye  might 
take  a  lesson  from  your  daughter  in  that,  Jock 
Stair!"  he  finished. 

I  rode  back  to  Stair  on  a  gallop  and  went 
straight  to  Nancy's  room. 

"  What  is  this  ye've  done?  "  I  cried.  "  What 
is  this  thing  that  ye've  done  against  the  man 
who  has  loved  ye  ever  since  his  eyes  lighted 
[329] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

upon  you,  and  whom  your  own  indecision  has 
helped  to  the  place  he  now  stands  ? " 

There  was  a  look  of  reproach  in  her  eyes 
as  she  sat  looking  up  at  me,  but  her  words  were 
quiet  enough. 

"  What  do  you  mean  f  "  she  asked. 

"I've  been  having  a  talk  with  Pitcairn — " 
I  began. 

"For  Heaven's  sake!"  she  cried,  springing 
to  her  feet.  "  It  was  the  thing  I  wanted  least. 
What  did  you  tell  him?  Oh,  what  did  ye  tell 
him?  "  she  asked  excitedly. 

"  I  told  him  nothing,"  I  answered. 

"You  think  you  didn't,  dearest,"  she  an 
swered  ;  "  but  it's  not  in  your  nature  to  keep  a 
secret.  'Tis  because  you're  a  fine  gentleman, 
with  never  a  thought  in  your  life  that  needs 
hiding;  but  it's  bad  in  law!  Stay  away  from 
Hugh  Pitcairn,  dearest.  Stay  away  from  him !  " 

"Nancy,"  said  I,  and  my  flattered  vanity 
softened  my  tone,  "I  don't  understand  your 
conduct  at  all;  for,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  you 
seem  to  have  done  all  ye  could  to  get  Danvers 
Carmichael  hanged " 

"  Seemed,  Jock,"  she  said,   "  only  seemed ! 

Ye  might  trust  me  a  bit  more " 

[330] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

"  And  you're  called  for  the  prosecution " 

"  Naturally,"  she  returned,  unmoved. 

And  here  I  just  stared  at  her  for  a  minute, 
and  turned  with  a  bit  of  temper  showing  in  my 
conduct  and  left  the  room. 

The  same  evening  I  was  further  blindfolded 
by  a  visit  from  Mr.  Magendie,  the  London  law 
yer,  who  by  Nancy's  thought  (although  I  did 
not  recognize  her  suggestion  in  the  matter  at 
the  time,  so  deftly  was  it  made)  had  been 
brought  up  to  Edinburgh  for  Danvers's  de 
fense.  I  found  this  renowned  gentleman  of  a 
slight,  wiry  build,  below  the  medium  height, 
with  a  distinguished  head,  covered  with  thick 
silver  hair,  hawk  eyes,  and  a  nose  which  turned 
downward  like  a  beak.  There  was  a  Sabbath 
calm  in  his  manner;  his  voice  was  gentle  and 
suave,  and  his  most  pertinent  statements  came 
as  mere  suggestions.  He  had,  I  noticed,  the 
very  rare  quality  of  fixing  his  whole  attention 
on  the  one  to  whom  he  listened,  and  of  putting 
his  own  personality  somewhere  aside  as  he  held 
up  the  speaker  to  the  strong  light  of  a  mind 
trained  for  inspection.  I  found  after  the  inter 
view  that  I  had  told  him  almost  everything  that 
I  had  said,  done,  or  imagined  since  my  birth, 
[331] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

and  at  remembrance  of  it,  recalled  Nancy's  in 
quiries  concerning  my  talk  with  Hugh,  and 
prayed  Heaven  I  had  not  been  equally  indis 
creet  before  that  block  of  steel. 

It  was  as  the  London  man  was  leaving  the 
house  that  the  blindfolding  of  me  was  begun 
anew  by  Huey  MacGrath  entering  with  a  note, 
saying  that  Nancy  would  like  to  have  Mr. 
Magendie  come  to  her  sitting-room  on  the  sec 
ond  floor.  I  paced  up  and  down  the  lower  hall, 
perplexed  in  mind  and  sick  with  dread  of  the 
horror  hanging  over  us,  yet  with  something  in 
my  heart  which  told  me  that,  in  spite  of  Hugh's 
statements,  Nancy  Stair  was  with  us — with 
Sandy,  and  Danvers,  and  myself. 

Near  one  o'clock  of  the  morning  I  heard 
Nancy's  voice,  at  the  turn  of  the  stair,  saying 
good  night  to  the  London  man. 

"People  think  he's  ice,"  she  cried,  and  I 
knew  it  was  Pitcairn  of  whom  she  spoke ;  "  but 
try  a  bit  of  flattery  with  him.  Not  on  his  looks, 
for  he  cares  less  for  them  than  for  the  wind  that 
blows,  but  on  his  abilities.  Tell  him  that  all 
knowledge  of  the  Scots  law  will  end  at  his  death, 
and  that  you're  flattered  to  be  on  the  same  case 
with  him;  tell  him  that  Moses  but  anticipated 
1332] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

him  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  that,  be 
fore  the  time  of  Leviticus,  he  was.  He  will  rest 
calm  under  it.  He  will  show  naught ;  but  in  his 
soul  he  will  agree  with  you,  and  think  that  a 
man  who  has  such  penetration  concerning  him 
self  must  have  a  judgment  worth  consideration 
about  others." 

I  heard  Magendie  laugh  aloud,  and  when  I 
joined  him  saw  that  his  eyes  had  brightened 
during  the  interview,  as  though  he  had  been 
drinking,  and  that  he  carried  himself  with  some 
excitement. 

"  It  will  be  a  great  case,  my  lord !  a  great 
case !  "  he  said,  with  enthusiasm.  "  And  it's  a 
fine  daughter  ye  have!  A  great  woman! 
God !  "  he  cried,  seizing  my  hand,  "  if  she'd  go 
on  the  case  with  me,  I'd  undertake  the  defense 
of  Judas!— and  I'd  get  a  verdict,  too!"  he 
added,  with  a  laugh,  as  he  went  out  into  the 
night. 

On  the  morning  set  for  the  trial,  to  add  to 
our  distressed  state  of  mind,  a  tempest  arose. 
There  was  rain  driven  into  the  town  from  the 
hills,  and  rain  driven  into  the  town  from  the 
sea,  and  banks  of  leaden  clouds  were  blown 
back  and  forth  over  the  trees,  which  were  bent 
[333] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

double  by  the  Bedlamite  wind.  The  grounds  of 
Stair  lay  like  a  pond,  the  road  ran  like  a  river, 
and  the  broken  bits  of  trees  hurled  everywhere 
made  going  abroad  a  dangerous  business.  As 
I  entered  the  breakfast-room  Huey  threw  a  look 
at  my  attire. 

"You'll  not  be  thinking  of  going  out?"  he 
demanded,  rather  than  asked. 

"  I'm  thinking  of  nothing  else,"  said  I. 

"  Ye'll  get  killt,"  he  cried,  and  at  the  words 
my  eyes  lighted  with  some  amazement  upon 
his  own  odd  costume,  for  he  was  prepared  to 
serve  my  breakfast  in  corduroys  and  thigh- 
boots. 

"  Why  are  you  dressed  like  that? "  I  in 
quired. 

"You  wouldn't  be  wanting  me  to  stay  at 
home  when  there's  trouble  to  Mr.  Danvers, 
would  you  f  he  demanded  fiercely.  "  I,  who  have 
known  him  since  he  was  a  week  old,  and  have 
had  favors  from  him  thousands  of  times !  And 
now,"  he  went  on  as  though  I  had  done  him 
some  personal  injury,  "  when  there's  sorrow  by 
him,  ye'd  have  me  keeping  the  chimney-lug,  wi' 
a  glass  and  a  story-book,  mayhap,  and  him 
needing  friends  as  he  sits  wi'  that  deevil  Pit- 
[334] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIB 

cairn  glowerin'  at  him.  Nay !  Nay !  "  lie  con 
tinued,  "Huey  MacGrath's  not  like  that!  I'll 
be  there !  "  he  cried,  his  conceit  and  loyalty  car 
rying  a  singular  comfort  to  me.  "  I'll  be  there, 
early  and  late,  and  they'll  see  they  have  me  to 
contend  wi' ! " 

"  Ye  can't  stay  in  the  court  You'll  be  se 
questered  until  after  you've  testified.  Ye  know 
the  law  for  that,  Huey." 

"  They'll  sequester  me  none  " ;  he  returned, 
grimly ;  "  and  if  Dunsappie  the  macer  tries  it 
I'll  have  him  read  out  of  the  church,  for  I  know 
of  him  that  which  makes  me  able  to  do  it ! " 

"  There's  Mr.  Pitcairn,  who  knows  ye  well," 
said  I. 

"  I'm  not  counting  to  see  him,"  he  returned 
with  a  squinting  of  his  eye.  "  I'll  stay  where 
he  is  nae  looking ;  but  I'll  get  a  glyff  of  the  lad 
die  himsel',  and  he'll  know  I'm  there,  and  will 
feel  better  for  it,  though  I'm  only  an  old  serv 
ing  man ! " 

"  I'm  sure  he  will,  Huey,"  I  said,  touched 
to  the  heart ;  "  I'm  sure  he  will ;  and  I'll  tell  him 
of  your  coming  if  he  misses  a  sight  of  you," 
I  added,  as  I  saw  the  poor  fellow's  face  work 
ing  with  sorrow  and  anxiety;  but  his  spirit  and 
[335] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

loyalty  undaunted  by  all  the  courts  of  judiciary 
that  ever  sat. 

We  were  preparing  to  be  off  together  when 
Nancy  came  down  to  us,  pale  and  heavy-eyed. 

"  Jock,"  said  she,  "  if  Mr.  Magendie  had  the 
word  he  hoped  for  from  Father  Michel,  it  would 
be  wise  for  him  to  have  as  many  Romanists  in 
the  jury  as  he  can  get.  They  have  reason  to 
know  the  priest's  goodness."  And  then :  "  Jock, 
darling ! "  she  cried,  throwing  her  arms  around 
my  neck  and  weeping  as  though  her  heart  would 
break,  "  there's  a  trial  coming  between  us ;  and 
ye'll  see  me  misjudged  by  the  world,  and  by 
Sandy  as  well,  who  has  been  like  an  own  father 
to  me !  And  by  him ! — him,  too !  You'll  all  be 
ashamed  of  me;  but  when  I'm  called,  mayhap 
to-morrow  or  the  next  day,"  and  the  little  hands 
fastened  themselves  around  my  bare  throat, 
"  don't  distrust  me.  Beloved,  don't  distrust 
me !  Don't  believe  I'm  bad,  or  wanting  in  loy 
alty  to  the  dear  ones  of  my  life.  Don't  believe 
it,  though  ye  hear  me  say  it  myself.  I  can  abide 
all  that's  come  to  me,  but  to  have  something 
between  us ! "  and  she  buried  her  face  in  my 
bosom,  moaning  like  a  hurt  child. 

"  Nancy,"  said  I,  for  the  sight  of  any  suffering 
[336] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

of  hers  made  me  like  a  crazy  man,  "  you've  held 
yourself  aloof  from  me,  and  have  given  out  by 
your  conduct  that  your  sympathies  are  all  for 
the  prosecution;  but  in  spite  of  it,  if  an  angel 
from  Heaven  were  to  call  you  guilty  of  disloy 
alty  to  a  friend  I'd  give  him  the  lie,  though  I 
were  damned  for  it ! "  I  cried. 

"  Mine  Jock,"  she  said,  "  mine  Jock !  "  and, 
comforted  by  the  very  violence  of  my  language, 
she  stood  quietly  by  the  window  watching  Huey 
as  he  waded  through  the  river  of  water  under 
neath  which  the  road  toward  Edinburgh  lay. 

Sandy  had  remained  in  town  over  night  to 
be  with  his  boy  at  the  earliest  possible  moment, 
and  we  sought  him  at  the  coffee-house  where 
he  had  slept.  He  had  his  friends  with  him,  but 
there  were  none  to  whom  he  paid  attention 
save  to  me,  holding  my  hand  in  his,  and  breath 
ing  deep  in  a  kind  of  relief  as  I  stood  by  him. 

I  asked  him  how  Danvers  bore  himself,  and 
he  answered,  with  a  courage  and  fortitude  be 
yond  belief,  and  that  Magendie  gave  him  com 
forting  assurances.  Of  Nancy  no  word  was 
spoken  between  us,  for  the  hurt  he  had  received 
from  her  conduct  put  an  edge  upon  his  suffer 
ing  keener  than  he  could  bring  himself  to  name, 
23  [  337  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

and  there  came  upon  me,  at  the  sight  of  this 
pain,  the  impulse  to  tell  him  my  own  suspicions 
in  the  matter,  but  caution  for  the  cause  held  me 
back. 

Fierce  as  the  morning  was,  the  court-room 
wau  packed  when  we  entered.  I  had  asked  and 
received  permission  to  sit  beside  Sandy  until 
such  time  as  the  empaneling  should  begin;  and 
as  we  took  our  seats  in  that  dread  place  I  had 
a  taste  of  the  terror  of  the  law  which  daunts  my 
spirit  to  this  day.  It's  one  thing  to  read  of  mur 
ders  by  one's  fireside,  speculating  over  the  evi 
dence  like  a  tale,  and  another  to  sit  face  to  face 
with  the  charges  and  the  life  of  one  most  dear 
dependent  on  the  issue.  And  such  was  the  awe 
inspired  by  the  dreadful  surroundings  that 
when  Carew,  the  Lord-President,  in  the  wig 
and  scarlet  robes  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  pre 
ceded  by  the  macers,  took  the  bench,  my  body 
shook  as  though  in  mortal  illness,  from  fear  of 
the  august  power  he  i3presented,  and  this  de 
spite  the  fact  that  I'd  drunken  deeper  than  was 
wise  with  him  many  times  in  my  early  days  and 
knew  him  to  be  sodden  in  his  affection  for 
Nancy  from  the  time  she  had  taken  the  case  out 
of  his  hands  for  Jeanie  Henderlin.  When  Dan- 
[338] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIE 

vers,  who  was  by  far  the  most  composed  of  any 
of  us,  was  brought  in,  I  arose,  laying  my  hand 
on  his  shoulder  as  we  talked,  determined  that 
the  whole  town  should  know  where  my  beliefs 
and  sympathies  lay. 

There  was  little  difficulty  in  getting  the  fif 
teen  jurymen,  and,  as  I  was  taken  away  to  be 
sequestered,  a  thing  happened  which  I  tell  for 
the  love  I  have  of  human  nature.  There  was  a 
commotion  at  the  door  of  the  court-room,  and 
I  heard  the  macer's  tones  threatening  some  one, 
and  then  a  clear  voice  crying: 

"  If  you  don't  let  me  in  I'll  break  every  bone 
in  your  body,"  and  Billy  Deuceace,  hard-ridden 
and  disheveled,  elbowed  his  way  to  the  railing 
itself  and  held  out  both  hands  to  Danvers. 

"  Couldn't  get  here  any  sooner,  old  man," 
he  cried.  "Have  ridden  all  night!  Just  came 
up  to  say  it's  all  damned  nonsense,  you  know !  " 
he  finished,  and  I  felt  that  a  happier  beginning 
could  scarce  have  occurred  for  us. 

I  was  not  in  the  court-room  when  the  case 
opened,  and  by  this  reason  am  forced  for  in 
formation  to  the  papers  recording  the  case, 
which  forms  one  of  the  causes  celeb  res  of  Scot 
tish  legal  history.  Even  at  this  distance  of 
[339] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

time,  at  sight  of  these  old  files  I  feel  again  the 
helplessness  and  miserable  sinking  of  heart 
which  I  felt  the  first  time  I  read  the  indictment 
of  Pitcairn  against  the  boy  whom  I  loved,  no 
matter  what  he  had  done;  and  I  write  it  again, 
no  matter  what  he  had  done. 

"  The  trial  of  Danvers  Carmichael  for  the 
murder  of  John  Stewart  Aglionby  Montrose, 
Duke  of  Borthwicke,  Ardvilarchan,  and  Drum- 
blaine  in  the  Muirs,  Lord  of,  etc.,  before  the 
Lord-President  Carew,  beginning  Tuesday, 
March  tenth,  1788. 

Counsel  for  the  Crown  For  the  Prisoner 

Mr.  Pitcairn  Mr.  Magendie 

Mr.  Inge  Mr.  Elliott 

Solicitor  Solicitor 

Mr.  Caldicott  Mr.  Witmer 

taken  in  shorthand  by  John  Gurney  of  London. 

"  After  addressing  the  bench,  the  case  was 
opened  for  the  prosecution  by  Mr.  Pitcairn,  as 
follows : 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  JUKY  : 

"  The  crime  imputed  to  the  prisoner  at  the 
bar  is  that  of  wilful  murder,  effected  by  means 
and  in  a  manner  most  abhorred.     Such  an  ao 
[340] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

eusation  naturally  excites  the  indignation  of 
honest  minds  against  the  criminal.  I  will  not 
endeavor  to  increase  it,  and  it  is  your  duty  to 
resist  it  and  to  investigate  and  determine  the 
case  wholly  upon  the  evidence  which  will  be 
placed  before  you. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  twenty-third  of  Febru 
ary,  1788,  John  Stewart  Aglionby  Montrose, 
Duke  of  Borthwicke,  wa£  found,  between  the 
hours  of  midnight  and^ne  of  the  morning,  dead 
in  a  desk-chair,  in  jL  chamber  on  the  ground 
floor  of  Stair  House,  near  Edinburgh,  by  Lord 
Stair  and  .his  serving-men,  Huey  MacGrath, 
John  Elliott,  and  James  MacColl.  The  window 
by  the  late  duke  it  will  be  proven  was  wide  open, 
forming  an  easy  entrance  from  outside;  a  pis 
tol,  the  property  of  the  accused,  was  found 
lying  by  the  chair  upon  which  the  duke  sat,  and 
a  wound  above  the  temple  of  the  deceased  was 
discovered,  made  by  a  bullet  similar  to  those 
used  in  the  pistol  before  mentioned. 

"  It  will  be  proven  by  testimony  of  such  a 
character  and  from  such  a  source  as  to  render 
it  singularly  forcible,  that  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  previous  to  the  night  of  the  murder  the 
accused  had  threatened  the  duke's  life,  apply- 
[341] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

ing  vile  and  scurrilous  names  to  the  deceased; 
repeating  these  threats  several  times  and  in 
various  forms. 

"  It  will  be  proven  that  there  had  existed 
for  the  accused  one  of  the  most  powerful  incen 
tives  to  murder  known,  in  the  fact  that  the  late 
duke  and  he  loved,  and  had  loved  for  some  time 
past,  the  same  lady,  Nancy,  daughter  to  Lord 
Stair ;  that  both  had  addressed  her  in  marriage, 
and  that  in  September  last  the  quarrel  between 
them  rode  so  high  that  a  meeting  was  arranged 
between  the  late  duke  and  the  accused ;  and  there 
will  be  testimony  to  show  that  the  duel  was 
averted  by  the  late  duke's  apologizing  to  Mr. 
Carmichael,  a  course  urged  upon  him  by  the 
lady  herself. 

"  It  will  be  proven  that  in  October  past,  after 
a  bitter  quarrel  with  Miss  Stair,  the  accused 
espoused  in  a  hasty  (and  in  a  person  of  his 
rank  and  station),  unseemly  manner,  his  moth 
er's  cousin,  Miss  Isabel  Erskine ;  that  since  that 
time  he  has  been  little  in  her  presence,  leaving 
her  alone  at  the  time  when  a  woman  most  needs 
the  comfort  and  support  of  a  husband's  pres 
ence,  and  paying  marked  attentions,  both  in 
public  and  private,  to  the  first  lady  of  his  choice, 
[342] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY   STAIR 

"  It  will  be  proven  that  on  the  day  preceding 
the  murder  there  was  published  in  an  Edin 
burgh  paper  called  The  Lounger  the  news  that 
an  engagement  of  marriage  had  been  contracted 
between  the  late  John  Stewart  Aglionby  Mon- 
trose,  Duke  of  Borthwicke,  Muir,  etc.,  and  Mis 
tress  Nancy  Stair,  only  daughter  of  John  Stair, 
Lord  of  Stair  and  Alton  in  the  Mearns. 

"It  will  be  proven  that  immediately  upon 
reading  this  the  accused  came  directly  to  Stair, 
and  after  entering  unannounced  into  the  room 
where  the  lady  was  sitting,  asked  her  if  the  tale 
were  true,  calling  the  late  duke  a  thiever  from 
the  poor,  a  seducer  of  women,  a  man  drenched 
in  all  manner  of  villainy,  and  one  whom  he 
would  rather  see  her  dead  than  married  to. 
That  he  had  declared  that  he  still  loved  and  had 
always  loved  her,  that  his  marriage  was  but  the 
result  of  a  crazy  jealousy,  and  besought  her  to 
promise  him  that  she  would  never  marry  the 
duke.  It  will  be  proven  by  two  competent  wit 
nesses  that  upon  her  refusing  to  do  this,  the 
accused  had  cried  out,  *I  will  save  you  the 
promising,  for  I  swear  he  shall  never  live  to 
rnarry  you.' 

"  It  will  be  proven  by  a  physician  of  repute 
[343] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

that  within  ten  minutes  of  the  time  of  the  mur 
der  the  accused  was  seen,  hatless,  walking 
very  fast  or  running  away  from  Stair  House 
toward  his  own  home  of  Arran,  and  this  along 
a  very  secluded  and  unusual  path. 

"In  conclusion,  testimony  will  be  brought 
to  show  that  the  day  before  the  murder  the 
accused  made  an  agreement  with  a  boatman  of 
Leith  to  keep  a  boat  ready  for  him  at  an  hour's 
notice,  either  for  Ireland  or  France. 

"  It  may  be  urged  that  this  testimony,  even 
if  fully  established,  is  purely  circumstantial, 
for  that  none  saw  the  accused  commit  the  fatal 
deed.  To  this  I  would  answer: 

"  The  true  question  is,  not  what  is  the  kind 
of  evidence  in  this  cause,  but  what  is  the  result 
of  it  in  your  minds. 

"  If  it  fail  to  satisfy  you  of  the  guilt  of  the 
prisoner,  if  your  minds  are  not  convinced,  if 
you  remain  in  doubt,  you  must  acquit  him,  be 
the  evidence  positive  or  presumptive,  because 
the  law  regards  a  man  as  innocent  so  long  as 
any  reasonable  doubt  of  his  guilt  exists.  But 
if,  on  the  contrary,  you  are  convinced  of  the 
fact,  if  there  is  no  chance  for  a  reasonable 
doubt  to  exist,  it  is  imperatively  your  duty  to 
[344] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

yourselves,  to  your  country,  and  to  your  God 
to  convict,  even  if  the  evidence  be  wholly  pre 
sumptive." 

I  set  this  extremely  dry  document  down  ex 
actly  as  it  is  recorded  in  the  files  for  two  rea 
sons:  first,  that  it  contains  all  of  the  charges 
against  Danvers,  and  to  show  how  black  the 
case  stood  against  him  when  I  say  that  all  Pit- 
cairn  said  he  would  prove  he  proved  to  the  last 
letter. 

After  my  own  testimony  was  taken,  the  na 
ture  of  which  is  already  known,  I  was  granted 
the  privilege  of  sitting  beside  Sandy  and  his 
boy,  the  three  of  us  being  joined  daily  by  Billy 
Deuceace,  whom  I  love  to  the  minute  of  this 
writing  for  his  devotion  to  my  lad. 

Nancy's  appearance  in  court  was  naturally 
looked  upon  as  the  most  exciting  point  of  the 
trial,  and  the  morning  she  was  to  be  called 
the  crowd  was  dense  to  suffocation,  the 
court-officers  busy,  dashing  to  and  fro,  try 
ing  to  keep  some  orderliness  among  the  women, 
who  jostled  each  other  and  gave  vent  to  loud 
exclamations  of  annoyance  in  their  efforts  to 
get  places  from  which  the  best  view  might  b§ 
[345] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

obtained.  It  is  curious  to  note  the  way  some 
trivial  vexation  will  linger  in  the  mind,  for  in 
recalling  this  scene  it  is  the  annoyance  I  had 
from  Mrs.  MacLeod,  mine  landlady  of  the  Star 
and  Garter,  that  stands  out  clearest  in  my 
memory  of  that  dreadful  waiting  time. 

She  sat  well  to  the  front,  giving  herself  im 
portant  airs,  and  I  could  hear  her  going  back 
and  forth  in  whispers  over  the  story  of  Nancy's 
visiting  the  duke  at  her  house  to  obtain  the 
pardon  of  Timothy  Lapraik.  Wagging  her 
head  to  and  fro,  applying  her  smelling-salts 
vigorously,  and  assuming  the  manner  of  an  in 
timate  sufferer  in  the  cause,  she  exasperated  us 
to  such  an  extent  that  Billy  Deuceace  was  for 
throwing  her  out  of  a  window. 

When  Nancy  entered  every  eye  in  that  im 
mense  throng  was  fixed  upon  her,  and  as  she 
stood,  so  fair  to  see,  in  her  black  hat  and  gown, 
waiting  to  take  the  oath,  Mrs.  MacLeod's  feel 
ings  overcame  her  entirely,  and  she  cried  out, 
in  a  loud  voice:  "Ah,  the  beauty!  'Tis  her  that 
should  hae  been  a  duchess ! "  immediately  fall 
ing  into  strong  hysterics,  upon  which  the  macers 
summarily  ejected  her,  to  our  great  satisfaction, 
and  Billy  Deuceace  all  but  cheered. 
[346] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

Danvers's  bearing  changed  at  the  mere 
sound  of  Nancy's  name,  and  the  look  of 
adoration  that  he  cast  upon  her  as  she  came 
near  him  was  as  unwise  a  piece  of  conduct  as 
could  well  he  imagined,  and  one  which  would 
have  gone  far  toward  convincing  an  onlooker 
of  his  willingness  to  die  or  to  murder  for  her 
protection,  if  necessary.  The  look  had  no 
weight  with  the  one  for  whom  it  was  intended, 
however,  for  she  let  her  eyes  pass  over  rather 
than  encounter  his,  turning  from  him,  with  what 
might  easily  seem  a  bit  of  disdain,  to  the  busi 
ness  in  hand. 

As  I  gazed  at  her  I  noted  with  astonishment 
that  the  little  creature's  face  seemed  to  have 
taken  on  something  of  Pitcairn's  expression, 
and  from  the  first  moment  to  the  clear  end  it 
was  toward  Pitcairn  she  gazed,  her  eyes  tutored 
by  his,  her  passionless,  unheated  manner  his 
own,  her  adjustments  and  discrimination  in 
words  showing  her  legal  training,  while  he  sat 
as  a  maiden  schoolmistress  might  who  listened 
to  the  reciting  of  a  favorite  pupil.  As  she  went 
on  with  her  tale;  omitting  nothing  of  the  duel; 
dragging  in  details  of  the  quarrel  which  seemed 
unnecessary;  stating  that  for  some  time  past 
[347] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

Mr.  CarmichaePs  attentions  to  her  had  been 
pronounced  to  such  an  extent  that  she  had 
shunned  all  company  for  fear  of  meeting  him; 
damaging  him  in  every  way,  as  it  appeared,  while 
the  poor  fellow  turned  a  piteous  color,  putting 
his  hand  over  his  eyes,  and,  for  the  first  time  in 
his  great  trouble,  I  saw  his  lips  tremble  and 
his  body  quiver  with  emotion.  I  could  scarce 
endure  the  sight  of  this,  and  to  show  my  feel 
ings  threw  my  arm  across  his  shoulder,  at  which 
movement  a  murmur  went  through  the  crowd, 
no  doubt  at  the  oddity  of  the  situation,  that  I 
should  be  so  strongly  marked  on  the  one  side 
and  Nancy  as  strongly  set  on  the  other. 

Danvers's  conduct  changed,  however,  before 
her  testimony  was  finished,  a  thing  which 
I  was  glad  to  see,  for  he  brought  himself 
together  with  fine  bravery  and  courage,  but 
with  a  bitterness  showing  in  his  face  as  of  one 
who  has  been  betrayed. 

There  were  two  things  in  Nancy's  testimony 

• 

to  which  I  looked  forward  with  dread.  The 
first  was  the  story  of  the  cap,  and  the  second 
the  finding  of  the  pistol  which  I  was  morally 
certain  she  had  moved.  The  first  of  these  was 
not  mentioned  at  all,  by  which  I  knew  that  Pit- 
[348] 


CHAP.  XXV  NANCY    STAIR 

cairn  had  had  that  incident  concealed  from  him, 
and  the  pistol  episode,  about  which  I  had  been 
questioned  at  length,  swearing  that  the  first 
sight  I  had  of  the  weapon  was  when  it  lay 
within  a  foot  of  the  duke's  hand,  was  answered 
like  this : 

Question. — "  In  what  position  was  the  pistol 
when  you  first  saw  it!  " 

Answer. — "  I  can  not  swear  to  that.  My 
impression  is  that  it  lay  with  the  barrel  toward 
the  window.  As  I  pointed  it  out  to  my  father, 
Lord  Stair,  I  made  a  movement  to  go  toward 
it,  but  he  held  me  back,  going  himself  to  inspect 
it.  From  the  distance  at  which  I  then  stood 
it  seemed  to  be  directly  under  the  duke's  right 
hand,  with  the  barrel  toward  the  window." 

It  was  after  a  full  morning's  hearing,  dur 
ing  which  it  seemed  there  was  nothing  more  she 
could  have  said  for  Danvers's  undoing,  that  she 
was  excused,  to  be  followed  by  the  villainous 
boatman,  whose  testimony  showed  all  too 
clearly  that  Danvers  had  made  ready  a  means 
of  escape. 

The  prosecution  rested  with  the  testimony 
of  this  man,  without  one  ray  of  hope  for  Dan 
vers  Carmichael  that  I  could  see,  unless  some 
[349] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXV 

of  the  jurymen  were  enlightened  enough  to 
refuse  a  conviction  in  a  capital  case  on  any  evi 
dence  which  was  circumstantial  or  conjectural, 
Motive,  abundant  motive,  had  been  proven; 
nearness  to  the  crime  at  the  time  of  the  murder ; 
the  ownership  of  the  weapon,  a  black  spot  for 
the  defense  to  wipe  out;  and  last,  the  means 
planned  for  an  escape  in  case  of  discovery,  as 
testified  to  by  the  boatman  of  Leith. 


[350] 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE   DEFENSE 

ON  the  day  that  Magendie  took  the  case  I 
had  a  taste  of  another  kind  of  lawing  than  Pit- 
cairn's,  for  the  London  man,  to  speak  in  a  com 
mon  phrase,  oiled  everybody.  He  poured  oil 
over  Carew;  he  drenched  Hugh  Pitcairn  in  it; 
smoothed  the  jury  with  it,  and  I  learned  to  the 
full  the  legal  value  of  the  unantagonistic  mind. 
After  this  he  turned  a  light  on  the  case  from 
the  other  side,  giving  it  an  entirely  different 
appearance,  holding  up  the  slateful  of  charges 
against  Danvers,  and  sponging  them  carefully 
off  one  by  one,  until  I  was  amazed  at  his 
abilities. 

There  were  three  important  gentlemen,  con 
versant  with  the  duke's  habits,  to  prove  that  the 
duke's  lung  trouble  had  accustomed  him  to  fresh 
air,  that  he  slept  with  all  of  his  windows 
raised,  and  that  it  was  his  custom  to  have  the 
[351] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVI 

window  open  near  him,  no  matter  what  the 
weather.  And  following  came  Huey,  with  the 
statements  that  both  of  the  pistols  had  been 
at  Stair  House  since  before  Mr.  Danvers's 
marriage,  and  that  he  had  put  one  of  them,  with 
a  new  hagged  flint,  in  the  desk  at  which  his 
grace  was  writing,  within  a  few  days  of  the 
murder.  Father  Michel  followed,  saying  that 
Danvers  had  spent  the  evening  of  the  murder 
with  him,  trying  to  persuade  him  to  go  on  a 
sail  for  a  few  days,  leaving  his  house  about 
midnight  in  a  composed  and  quiet  frame  of 
mind,  with  his  cap  in  his  hand,  it  being  his 
custom  to  go  about  in  all  kinds  of  weather  in 
that  manner,  a  habit  contracted  at  the  English 
school  where  he  was  educated.  And  before  any 
one  could  stop  him,  Father  Michel,  who  I  knew 
was  tutored  to  the  illegal  conduct  by  Magendie, 
said  earnestly: 

"  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  state,  with  no  be 
trayal  of  my  sacred  offices,  that  I  know,  by  the 
confessional  Mr.  Carmichael  to  be  innocent  of 
this  foul  deed." 

Pitcairn  was  roaring  objections  in  a  minute, 
with  Carew  sustaining  him,  as  was  but  legally 
decent;  but  it  mattered  little,  for  the  jurors  had 
[352] 


CHAP.  XXVI  NANCY   STAIR 

heard,  and  I  knew  that  the  holy  man's  words 
would  stick  in  their  minds  at  verdict  time. 

Following  Father  Michel  came  two  respect 
able  serving-men  from  Arran,  declaring  that 
early  the  morning  after  the  murder  Mr.  Dan- 
vers  had  sent  them  to  Leith  to  say  that  he  no 
longer  wanted  the  boat,  and  that  they  had  found 
its  owner,  the  one  who  had  testified  for  the 
prosecution,  in  such  a  state  of  intoxication  that 
they  could  not  make  their  errand  clear,  and  left 
the  message  with  his  errand-boy,  who  was  pro 
duced  to  verify  the  truth  of  their  statements. 
And  after  him  came  Nancy  Stair  again,  recalled 
for  the  defense,  to  swear  to  a  letter  sent  to  the 
duke  by  her  the  mourning  of  the  day  of  his  de 
mise,  which  read  as  follows: 

"  MY  DEAR,   DEAR   FRIEND : 

"  That  I  love  you,  you  know;  but  that  I  can 
love  you  with  that  fondness  which  a  wife  should 
have  for  a  husband  is  forever  an  impossibility 
to  me.  Perhaps  after  a  time  we  may  be  friends 
again.  I  have  always  admired  your  power. 
Of  late  I  have  admired  your  goodness  as  well. 

"  You  say  you  will  have  no  courage  to  go  on 
without  me,  and  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I  could 
love  you  as  you  desire,  but  my  heart's  all  gone 
from  me,  and  to  one  who  never  will  know. 
84  [  353  ] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVI 

"  '  Courage  to  go  on ! '    If  I  have  it,  can  not 
you  who  are  so  much  stronger  have  it  as  well? 
"  Affectionately  your  Friend, 

"  NANCY  STAIK." 

And  after,  Jamie  Henderlin  swore  that  it 
was  he  who  ran  across  the  grounds,  on  his  way 
home  from  a  wedding,  and  that  he  had  heard 
the  shots  and  mentioned  them  to  his  mother  on 
his  arrival  at  the  Burnside,  thus  identifying 
the  small  figure  I  had  seen  running  through  the 
shaft  of  light,  and  wiping  away  the  last  black 
mark  on  the  slate  against  Danvers. 

Mr.  Magendie  asked  permission  at  this  point 
to  address  the  court,  saying  that  the  defense 
had  been  reserved  by  Mr.  CarmichaePs  wish, 
and  that  the  manner  of  the  duke's  taking  off 
had  been  a  known  thing  to  both  of  them  for 
more  than  a  week,  but  that  Mr.  Carmichael 
had  stood  his  trial  in  order  that  every  charge 
against  him  might  be  cleared  away.  And  after 
raising  public  expectation  to  its  highest,  and 
ridiculing  the  idea  that  a  man  of  intelligence 
should  murder  another  and  leave  a  weapon 
heavily  marked  with  his  own  name  by  the  side 
of  the  dead ;  or  that  because  a  man  had  uttered 
some  threats  of  again  challenging  one  whom 
[354] 


CHAP.  XXVI  NANCY    STAIE 

lie  had  already  met  upon  the  field  of  honor,  he 
should  be  accused  of  being  a  midnight  assassin, 
there  was  called  the  last  witness  for  the  defense : 

"Lord  Kothermel!" 

The  entrance  of  this  distinguished  states 
man,  whose  friendship  for  the  great  Pitt  kept 
him  constantly  in  the  public  eye,  caused  little 
less  than  a  sensation.  As  he  took  the  oath,  I 
had  a  near  view  of  him;  his  dignified  bearing, 
his  age,  and  his  notable  integrity  showing  at 
every  turn,  the  tones  of  his  voice  filling  the 
court  with  a  peculiar  resonance  while  he  de 
poned  as  follows: 

"  I  come,"  he  said,  "  as  a  messenger  from 
Mr.  Pitt,  who  regrets  that  his  Majesty's  affairs, 
connected  with  the  troublous  times  in  France, 
prevent  his  leaving  London.  I  have  his  depo 
sition,  however,  and  the  case  has  been  fully  set 
before  me  by  him,  so  that  I  feel  I  am  in  a  posi 
tion  to  tell  the  whole  truth  of  this  disastrous 
affair  and  to  set  Mr.  Carmichael  before  the 
world  as  a  free  man. 

"  There  existed  between  Mr.  Pitt  and  the 

late  Duke  of  Borthwicke,  as  the  world  knows, 

a  peculiar  friendship.     On  the  third  morning 

after  the  duke's  death  there  came  to  Mr.  Pitt  a 

[355] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVI 

packet,  taken  from  Stair  House  and  mailed 
about  five  of  the  morning  upon  which  the  duke 
died,  directed  in  the  duke's  hand,  containing 
three  things : 

"First. — The  findings  of  the  Lighthouse 
Commission. 

"  Second. — Some  information  from  the 
French,  a  document  of  twenty-two  pages,  writ 
in  a  cipher  known  to  but  five  persons  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  which  paper  alone  convinced 
Mr.  Pitt  of  the  authenticity  of  the  docu 
ment;  and  last,  a  personal  letter,  the  orig 
inal  of  which  Lord  Rothermel  begged  to 
read  before  it  be  given  to  the  jury : 

"  MY    EVEK    DEAR    PlTT  I 

"  When  you  receive  these  papers — the  last 
intelligences  I  shall  ever  send  you — I,  the  writer 
of  them,  shall  be  no  more. 

"  A  great  disappointment,  one  which  I  have 
not  the  heart  to  endure,  together  with  a  return 
of  my  old  trouble,  for  I  have  had  three  bleed 
ings  from  the  lungs  within  a  month,  have  cured 
me  of  the  taste  of  living,  and,  by  a  mere  move 
ment  of  the  trigger,  I  end  the  game  to-night. 

"  It  is  a  fancy  of  mine  to  take  my  leave  of 
this  earthly  stay  surrounded  by  the  little  dear 
belongings  of  the  one  I  love. 
[356] 


CHAP.  XXVI  NANCY   STAIR 

"  There  will  be  much  talk  back  and  forth 
concerning  me.  I  pray  you  bespeak  me,  if  you 
will,  a  brave,  insolent,  selfish,  and  unscrupulous 
man  of  many  villainies,  some  wit  and  foresight, 
a  disrespecter  of  humanity,  athirst  for  power, 
and  a  hater  of  fools ;  but  one  who,  at  the  end, 
was  capable  of  a  great  love  for  a  great  woman. 

"  I  send  some  verses,  which  are  of  my  own 
making  to-day.  As  Shakespeare  says,  '111 
favored,  but  mine  own,'  and  so  good  night— -a 
long  good  night. 

"TO  NANCY  STAIR 

"  I  stand  upon  the  threshold  going  out 

Into  the  night. 

The  mists  of  old  misdeeds  crowd  all  about 
And  blind  my  sight. 

"  But  thro'  the  many  worlds  to  come,  my  feet 

No  more  shall  roam. 

The  light  from  thy  dear  face  at  last  my  sweet 
Will  bring  me  home. 

"  To  you  always,  my  dear  Pitt, 

"  BoETHWICKE  W 

I  was  dimly  conscious  of  the  uproar  which 
arose  in  the  court-room,  for  I  was  away  in  a 
by-gone  time,  a  vision  before  me,  clear  as  a 
picture,  of  a  sunny  room,  myself  at  a  writing- 
desk  overlooking  accounts,  and  a  small  curly 
[3571 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVI 

haired  child  poring  over  a  book  on  the  rug  at 
my  feet 

"  Nancy  made  it  just  like  Jock's!11 
"Nancy  made  it  just  like  Jock's  I n 

I  can  recall  the  fear  that  seized  me  as  the 
duke's  letter  was  being  examined  by  those  fa 
miliar  with  his  writings;  the  chill  I  felt  as 
Blake,  who  knew  his  hand  the  best,  was  sum 
moned  to  inspect  it;  my  terror  as  he  hesitated, 
with  all  the  time  that  sing-song  refrain  going 
over  and  over  in  my  head,  so  loud  that  I  was 
afraid  that  everyone  in  the  court  would  hear 
it;  and  then,  far  away  and  little,  like  a  wood- 
call,  "  Nancy  made  it — "  And  when  Blake  and 
Dundas  identified  the  writing,  and  0' Sullivan, 
the  duke's  own  secretary,  declared  that  not  only 
would  he  be  Trilling  to  swear  to  his  belief  of 
the  duke's  hand,  but  to  the  spirit  of  the  docu 
ment  as  well,  I  put  my  head  on  the  back  of 
Danvers's  chair  to  hide  the  tears  which  rolled 
down  my  cheeks,  tears  of  relief,  but  springing 
from  a  very  different  cause  than  the  one  at 
tributed  for  them. 

There  was  more  summing  up  and  going 
back  and  forth,  but  the  tension  of  the  trial  was 
over  for  all  except  me  and  one  other — one  wide- 
[358] 


CHAP.  XXVI  NANCY    STAIR 

eyed  little  creature,  sitting  in  her  black  gown, 
with  Dickenson  beside  her,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  court-room;  a  slender  girlish  figure  before 
whom  my  soul  was  on  its  knees. 

I  imagined  her  work,  after  she  asked  me  to 
pray  for  her,  upon  that  awful  night.  I  thought 
of  fifty  things  on  the  second,  as  it  seemed. 
Visions  came  to  me  of  Nancy  dipping  her  head 
in  the  basin  of  water,  Nancy  by  the  mail-bag 
in  the  early  dawning  before  the  officers  had 
come,  and  to  that  "  Nancy  made  it  just  like 
Jock's,"  there  came,  with  terror  to  my  soul, 
another  jumble  of  words — "Accessory  after 
the  fact." 

I  knew  that  the  jury  consulted  but  a  few 
minutes  before  the  whole  of  Edinburgh  was 
shaking  hands  with  Danvers,  assuring  him  of 
their  never-shaken  trust  in  his  innocence,  saw 
Pitcairn  putting  his  papers  into  the  black- 
leather  case,  was  conscious  that  Billy  Deuceace 
was  laughing  as  he  talked  to  some  women,  with 
his  hand  on  Danvers's  shoulder.  I  say  that  I 
was  aware  of  these  things,  but  so  remotely  that 
they  seemed  part  of  a  dream,  for  my  real 
thought  was  to  get  to  Nancy,  to  take  her  away, 
to  shield  her  from  I  know  not  what;  and  leav- 
[359] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVI 

ing  the  Carmichael  party,  I  made  my  way  to 
the  place  where  she  was  awaiting  the  carriage. 
As  we  stood  together  near  the  doorway, 
Sandy  and  Danvers,  with  their  friends,  passed 
us  on  their  way  from  the  court-room,  and  my 
heart  bled  as  I  saw  the  look  Nancy  gave  them, 
the  look  of  pleading  and  affection,  which 
Sandy  avoided  by  talking  to  the  one  beside 
him;  but  Danvers,  and  none  could  blame  him, 
considering  his  belief  that  she  had  done  her 
utmost  to  get  him  hanged,  looked  full  at  her, 
his  eyes  showing  scorn  of  her.  I  felt  the  slight 
body  quiver,  saw  her  sway  back  and  forth  for 
a  little,  and  then,  with  a  sob  like  a  wounded 
child,  she  lost  consciousness  entirely.  Hugh 
Pitcairn  stayed  by  her  until  she  was  enough  re 
covered  for  me  to  put  her  in  the  coach,  and 
rode  back  to  Stair  with  us,  watching  her  all  the 
time  with  an  expression  of  alarm  and  tender 
ness,  which  drew  him  very  near  to  me. 


[36O] 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE   MISTS  ALL   CLEAEED   AWAY 

ON  toward  midnight  I  was  awakened  by 
Dickenson  clamoring  at  my  door,  telling  me 
that  Nancy  lay  delirious,  with  a  high  fever, 
calling  for  me.  Making  what  haste  I  could,  I 
reached  the  poor  child,  to  find  her  tossing  from 
one  side  of  the  bed  to  the  other,  uttering  hoarse 
cries,  with  neither  intelligence  in  her  glance  nor 
recognition  of  either  my  presence  or  my  voice. 
McMurtrie's  attitude,  after  his  examination, 
drove  me  wild  with  fear.  "It's  like  to  be  a 
long  case,"  he  said.  "  I  want  ye  to  get  Dr. 
Cameron  from  Glasgow.  I'll  stay  by  ye,"  he 
added ;  "  I'll  just  move  into  the  house,  for, 
under  God,  it's  not  my  intention  to  let  Nancy 
Stair  leave  us  yet." 

Weeks  and  weeks  went  by,  during  which  it 
seemed  as  though  I  neither  slept  nor  ate,  listen 
ing  to  the  moaning,  or,  what  was  far  worse, 
broken  talk  of  her  work,  of  her  cares,  scraps  of 
[361] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

forgotten  rhymes,  bits  of  Latin  verse,  law  refer 
ences  cited  letter  for  letter,  until  I  needed  the 
doctor  myself,  who  threatened  to  put  me  from 
the  house  unless  I  showed  a  more  reasonable 
behavior. 

On  in  the  third  week  of  Nancy's  fever  I 
heard  that  Danvers's  wife  was  ill,  but  this  was 
nature,  and  I  gave  no  more  thought  to  the 
matter.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which 
the  news  was  brought  me  the  Arran  folks 
sent  again  to  know  if  Dr.  McMurtrie  could  be 
spared  them,  and  we  sent  him  over  immediately. 
On  his  return  I  asked  him,  in  a  perfunctory 
way,  how  he  had  found  things,  and  he  returned 
an  evasive  answer;  but  upon  my  insisting  for 
the  truth,  he  told  me  that  Isabel  had  given  birth 
to  a  child  the  night  before,  but  that  it  had  died 
before  morning,  and  that  she  herself  was  in  a 
most  desperate  state. 

My  heart  went  out  to  all  this  suffering,  but 
death  so  near  increased  my  anxiety  for  my  own 
child,  and  when  the  news  was  brought  me  on 
the  following  morning  that  Isabel  had  passed 
away  during  the  night,  the  fear  for  Nancy  rose 
high  in  me,  and  I  became  like  a  crazed  creature, 
wandering  from  one  room  to  another,  with  half- 
[363] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIE 

begun  prayers  to  God  upon  my  lips  and  a  feel 
ing  of  utter  helplessness  heavy  on  my  soul. 

Nine  weeks  of  this  I  endured,  nine  weeks  of 
such  dread  that  I  should  choose  death  in  pref 
erence  to  living  the  time  again,  when  one  morn 
ing  in  early  spring  Dr.  Cameron,  who  had  been 
watching  by  the  bedside  all  night,  came  to  me. 
"  I  think,  my  lord,"  he  said,  "  that  the  worst  is 
by  with.  Ye  need  worry  no  more,"  and  at  the 
words  I  buried  my  face  in  my  hands,  as  I  sat  at 
the  table,  and  wept  like  a  child. 

On  the  day  following  this  announcement, 
Sandy,  who  had  refused  to  leave  me  in  my 
great  anxiety,  took  his  boy  off  to  visit  the  New 
Eepublic  founded  across  seas,  and  Dr.  McMur- 
trie,  who  kept  his  residence  at  Stair,  for  I  would 
listen  to  no  word  of  his  leaving  us  yet,  watched 
the  dear  one  on  her  journey  back  from  the  val 
ley  of  the  shadow.  It  was  late  summer  before 
she  was  able  to  be  about  at  all,  and  Hallowe'en 
was  celebrated  by  her  first  riding  out. 

As  she  grew  stronger  there  were  two  changes 
I  noted  in  her  conduct,  the  first  of  these  being 
her  unwillingness  to  see  Hugh  Pitcairn,  whose 
solicitude  for  her  during  her  illness  had  knit 
us  together  by  cords  never  to  be  broken.  If 
[363] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

she  knew  he  was  in  the  house  she  would  retire 
to  her  own  room,  or  if  advised  of  his  coming 
would  go  abroad  to  visit  or  drive,  in  every  way 
showing  a  clear  avoidance  of  his  society.  And 
the  second  matter  was  in  connection  with  the 
Burn  School.  This  work  had  been  the  chief 
thought  of  her  life  before  her  illness,  but  upon 
her  recovery  she  refused  to  visit  the  place, 
would  walk  or  ride  far  around  by  the  Dead 
Man's  Holm  to  avoid  meeting  in  with  either 
teachers  or  pupils;  and  when  Father  Michel 
brought  work  to  her  to  have  it  examined  she 
would  overlook  it  listlessly,  and  put  it  by  im 
mediately  on  his  departure,  to  be  referred  to 
no  more.  I  knew  more  of  the  reasons  for  this 
conduct  than  she  suspected,  her  talk  in  the  fever 
being  all  of  one  thing,  and  the  intuition  of  my 
love  helping  me  far  in  discovering  the  truth. 
I  believed  that  McMurtrie  had  learned  some 
matters  as  well  as  myself,  for  twice,  when  he 
was  telling  me  something  concerning  her,  he 
broke  off  with  entire  irrelevancy  to  say :  "  The 
little  deevil ;  the  plucky  little  deevil !  "  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  and  ending  with,  "  God !  I'd  like  to 
tell  Pitcairn,"  and  a  roar  of  laughter. 

More  than  a  year  had  gone  by  before  her 
[364] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

color  and  brightness  came  back  to  her,  and  one 
gay  spring  morning,  when  the  "  Nanciness  "  of 
her  had  shown  itself  by  some  audacious  re 
joinder,  I  ventured  on  a  remark,  which  I  hoped 
would  lead  to  an  open  talk  with  me,  concerning 
the  affair  of  the  trial. 

"  Nancy,"  said  I,  with  nothing  but  the  impulse 
of  the  moment  to  guide  me,  "  would  a  child  of 
mine  commit  a  forgery?  " 

She  looked  up  at  me  quickly,  as  though  to 
judge  my  intention,  before  she  answered,  "  A 
child  of  yours  did." 

"  But  you  were  too  little  to  know  the  force 
of  your  conduct  then,"  I  continued.  "  Would  a 
child  of  mine  do  such  a  thing  now?  " 

A  curious  gleam  passed  over  her  face  before 
she  answered,  looking  straight  into  my  eyes  as 
she  did  so,  "Don't  worry  about  that,  Jock," 
she  said ;  "  she  didn't  have  to !  " 

"  We  will  suppose,"  she  went  on,  with  an 
exact  imitation  of  Pitcairn,  "  only  suppose,  you 
understand,  that  a  bit  of  evidence  was  needed 
in  a  certain  trial  to  clear  one  who  was  very 
dear;  and  we  will  suppose,  only  suppose,  you 
remember,  that  there  was  a  girl  who  had  skill 
enough  to  seem  to  obtain  it.  We  will  suppose, 
[365] 


NANCY   STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

still,  that  the  girl  said  to  herself,  '  If  I  am  on 
the  other  side  from  the  great  Pitcairn,  I  shall 
have  no  chance  against  his  cross-examination, 
but  if  I  seem  to  be  on  his  own  side  he  may  be 
thrown  from  his  guard,  and  I  may  suggest  the 
questioning  I  want  followed.*  Take  the  testi 
mony  ! "  she  cried,  in  her  natural  voice,  rising 
and  standing  by  the  chimney-place.  "  Take  the 
testimony  which  I  gave  and  go  through  it  word 
by  word,  and  you  can  find  neither  forgery  nor 
perjury.  I  had  been  well  taught  in  the  letter 
of  the  law.  I  was  Pitcairn' s  own  pupil,  Jock !  " 
It  was  less  than  a  week  from  this  time  that 
I  came  in  from  a  ride,  happier  than  I  had 
thought  to  be  again  in  this  life,  when  a  sight 
met  my  eyes  which  threw  me  clear  from  my 
reckoning.  Going  past  the  door  of  Nancy's 
sitting-room,  I  looked  in,  and  at  first  sight 
thought  my  eyes  had  deceived  me,  for  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  room  was  Hugh  Pitcairn, 
and  Nancy's  head  was  on  his  shoulder.  I  saw 
that  she  was  crying,  and  that  the  great  lawyer 
himself,  who  was  far  from  unmoved,  patted  her 
shoulder  every  once  in  a  while,  saying,  "  There, 
there !  "  staring  out  of  the  window  and  blinking 
hard  to  keep  the  tears  back. 
[366] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY   STAIR 

I  went  on  to  my  own  chamber  and  sat  down 
in  a  heap  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  as  I  used  to 
do  at  college,  repeating,  "  Good  Heavens !  "  over 
and  over  to  myself,  until  interrupted  in  the  per 
formance  by  Huey,  who  came  in  to  gather  the 
fire.  "Where  is  Mr.  Pitcairn,  Huey?"  said  I. 
<  He's  went,"  he  replied,  and  on  the  words  a 
fear  seized  me  lest  Nancy  should  retire  into  one 
of  her  silences,  and  I  should  be  left  in  a  state 
of  raging  curiosity  through  the  night.  Upon 
inquiry  I  found  that  she  was  sleeping,  and  went 
down  to  the  library,  where  I  had  but  just  set 
tled  myself  when  Hugh  Pitcairn  appeared  be 
fore  me,  a  legal  document  in  his  hand,  having 
been  for  a  walk  to  recover  himself,  I  supposed. 
He  looked  more  wooden  than  I  had  ever  seen 
him,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  country,  I  knew 
he  would  make  me  pay  for  the  emotion  he  had 
shown  before  Nancy. 

"  Pve  news  for  you,"  he  said. 

"Hugh,"  I  answered,  "if  they're  pleasant, 
ye're  welcome;  but  if  they  are  not,  I  tell  ye 
frankly,  I've  been  stretched  to  breaking  in  the 
past  year,  and  can  not  stand  much  more." 

"It's  not  ill,"  he  answered.     "It  concerns 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke." 
[367] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

Here  was  dangerous  walking  for  me,  and  I 
waited. 

"  Do  you  recall,"  lie  inquired,  "  the  French 
woman  at  the  Burnside  who  taught  the  Mar 
seilles  work! " 

"  A  poor  distraught  body  who  ran  from  her 
own  shadow  1 "  said  I. 

He  nodded. 

"Although  she  spoke  the  French  tongue,  it 
seems  she  was  Irish  by  birth.  Her  name" — he 
coughed  a  little  behind  his  hand  as  though  to 
give  me  time — "her  name  was  Barnet." 

I  had  heard  the  name  before,  but  where?  I 
saw  that  Hugh  was  waiting  for  me  to  place  it, 
but  any  significant  connection  it  might  have  I 
found  myself  unable  to  recall. 

"  It  was  heard  of,  ten  or  twelve  years  past, 
in  connection  with  that  of  the  late  Duke  of 
Borthwicke,"  he  threw  in  for  my  assistance,  and 
the  tale  of  an  old-time  scandal  came  back  to 
me  at  his  words. 

"She  left  her  husband  for  him.  They 
went  to  France  together,  did  they  not?"  1 
asked. 

"It  was  so  stated  at  the  time,"  Pitcairn 
answered. 

[368] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

"And  she  knows  something  of  the  duke's 
death?  " 

"  Knew,"  Pitcairn  corrected.  "  She  died  at 
noon  to-day.  It  is  her  confession  that  I  have 
in  this  paper,  John.  It  was  she  herself  who 
shot  the  duke,  and  the  interwovenness  of  affairs 
is  marked  in  this.  She  was  an  early  love  of 
Father  Michel's,  before  he  entered  the  priest 
hood,  and  came  to  him  for  work  after  her  chil 
dren  died." 

"  Poor  woman,"  said  I,  "  she  was  half 
crazed,  and,  God  forgive  me  for  saying  so,  had 
many  excuses  for  her  act." 

"  Father  Michel  sent  for  me  at  ten.  McMur- 
trie  was  there,  and  she  told  us  the  tale,  after 
signing  the  paper,  which  I  bring  to  you  to  use 
as  you  think  best.  You  will  be  glad  to  have 
Carmichael  see  it,  perhaps." 

"  Hugh,"  said  I,  for  a  shadow  had  lain  be 
tween  us  ever  since  the  trial,  despite  his  devo 
tion  to  Nancy,  "  I  didn't  think  ye  acted  well  by 
me  at  the  time  of  the  trial." 

I  got  no  further  in  this  speech,  for  upon  the 
instant  he  flew  into  a  sudden  heat,  which  made 
any  temper,  Sandy's  or  mine,  or  both  of  them 
put  together,  seem  but  a  child's  displeasure  be 
side  it.  ^  (-  369  j 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

"  Acted  well  to  ye !  "  he  cried.  "  Acted  well 
to  ye !  Do  you  know  what  I  did  for  you  at  that 
time,  Jock  Stair,  or  rather  for  that  bit  lassie 
of  yours,  who  has  so  wound  herself  about  my 
heart  that  her  illness  has  made  me  a  broken 
man!  I  didn't  give  over  the  case  when  ye  asked 
me,  for  I  believed  Danvers  Carmichael  a  guilty 
man;  but  I  meant  to  be  as  lenient  to  him  as 
consistent  with  exact  duty.  Ye'll  learn  perhaps 
that  in  law,  a  friend  prosecuting  is  better  than 
a  friend  defending!  Do  you  think  I  did  not 
know  what  was  done  at  that  trial!  Oh!  not  at 
the  first,  for  she  tricked  and  befooled  me  to  the 
clear  end  of  the  prosecution;  but  when  the  let 
ter  was  read  I  knew  it  had  been  changed,  and 
did  for  that  bit  of  a  girl  what  the  rest  of  the 
world  might  have  tried  to  get  me  to  do  in  vain. 
I  was  afraid  for  her — for  her!  do  you  under 
stand? — for,  on  my  soul,  I  thought  him  guilty 
in  the  way  she  did,  a  sudden  duel  perhaps,  for 
the  young  man  has  a  look  of  honesty  not  com 
patible  with  murder.  But  when  I  thought  of 
what  might  come  to  her  as  accessory  after  the 
fact — accessory — after — the — fact — do  you  un 
derstand? — I  shivered  before  a  Scotch  justice 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life. 
[370] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIE 

"But  the  thing  that  galls  me,"  lie  went  on, 
and  his  pride  spoke,  "  is  that  yon  London-man, 
Magendie,  may  never  know  I  had  the  truth  con 
cerning  the  affair.  With  Ferrars  vs.  Lorrimer, 
Annesly  vs.  Ingraham,  and  Cobham,  Greenly, 
and  Spencer  vs.  the  Crown*  at  my  tongue's  end, 
did  he  think  I'd  let  a  case  of  resting  on  letter- 
evidence  like  his  pass  as  I  did  without  some 
weighty  reason  for  my  silence? 

"  But  the  queer  thing  of  it  is  that  I  feel  a 
better  man  somehow  for  having  done  my  duty 
loosely;  for,  John,  I  had  at  home,  when  that 
letter  was  produced  in  court,  one  sent  by  mes 
senger,  dated  a  half -hour  later  by  the  duke  him 
self,  asking  me  to  meet  him  the  following  morn 
ing  to  overlook  some  papers  before  he  signed 
them,  which,  had  I  produced,  would  have  ended 
the  whole  defense. 

"  She's  just  upset  all  my  creeds  and  conduct. 
I  could  no  more  have  hurt  her  as  she  sat  look 
ing  at  me  with  those  big  soft  eyes  of  hers  than 
I  could  have  murdered  a  baby.  What  did  I  tell 
you  years  agone? "  he  cried,  turning  upon  me 
with  some  fierceness — "  That  ye  can't  do  any- 

*  "Famous  Forgeries,"  Benson. 

[371] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

thing  with  women  folks.  Inherited  mother  in 
stincts  make  them  protect  anything,  and  when 
it  comes  to  one  they  love,  they'll  falsify,  not 
knowing  that  they're  doing  it,  and  justify  the 
lies  by  Scripture,  if  need  be. 

"  But  when  a  man  comes  to  die  it's  his 
mother  he  calls  for;  'tis  the  touch  of  her  hand 
he  wants,  and  her  breast  to  lean  against  as 
when  he  was  a  wee  bit  bairn,  for  he  knows  the 
worth  of  a  heart  that  is  all  for  him,  right  or 
wrong,  through  sickness,  disgrace,  and  death. 
And  in  the  long  nights  I  watched  by  the  child's 
bedside  I  learned  more,  Jock  Stair,  than  any 
intellectual  work  could  ever  bring  me,  for 
the  love  I  had  for  her,  and  the  thought  of  wom 
an's  love  as  mother,  wife,  and  daughter,  raised 
me  more,  made  me  a  finer  man,  a  more  uplifted 
one  than  I  have  ever  been,  even  when  it  made 
me  soft  about  my  duty.  It  seems  a  bit  muddled, 
but  it's  a  solemn  truth." 

"I  knew  you'd  find  it  out,  Hugh  Pitcairn, 
and  you'd  have  known  what  ye've  been  trying 
to  tell  me  years  ago  if  you'd  had  a  wife  and 
children  of  your  own.  You're  such  a  splendid 
fellow,"  I  cried,  "it's  a  pity  you, haven't." 

"  I've  been  wishing  I  had,"  he  said  simply. 
[373] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIE 

"And  why  not? "  I  cried;  "you're  a  young 
man  yet." 

He  shook  his  head  at  this,  but  made  no  an 
swer  in  words,  and  left  me  with  some  abrupt 
ness  and  no  further  speech. 

Now  that  the  confession  was  in  my  hands  I 
knew  not  what  course  to  pursue,  and  fell  to 
wondering  how  much  reviewing  it  might  cause 
of  the  testimony  which  had  cleared  Danvers 
Carmichael,  and  what  possible  trouble  from  that 
might  come  home  to  Nancy's  door.  It  was  but 
nine  o'clock;  a  thought  seized  me  before  I 
reached  the  house,  and  I  sent  MacColl  to  Arran 
Towers  with  a  request  that  Mr.  Danvers  come 
to  me  immediately.  It  had  been  over  a  year 
since  he  had  crossed  my  threshold,  and  al 
though  he  was  back  in  the  country  above  three 
months,  with  Nancy's  conduct  still  unexplained, 
friendly  intercourse  between  the  houses  was 
impossible. 

"  There's  a  welcome  been  waiting  for  you 
o'er  long,"  I  said  to  him  as  he  entered  the  room, 
and  here  the  fine  directness  of  him  answered 
me: 

"  I've  never  had  for  you  a  thought  not  of 
the  kindest;  but  your  daughter's  conduct  to  me, 
[373] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

Lord  Stair,  has  rendered — "  and  before  he  fin 
ished  I  put  out  my  hand  to  stay  him. 

"  I  wouldn't  go  on  if  I  were  you,  Danvers ! 
I  wouldn't  say  that  which  I  might  come  to  re 
gret.  Ye  haven't  known  all,  and  ye  may  have 
misjudged,"  and  here  I  began  at  the  other  end. 

"  The  one  who  killed  the  Duke  of  Borthwicke 
has  confessed  the  deed.  I  have  the  confession 
here !  "  I  said,  touching  the  paper  I  had  from 
Hugh  Pitcairn  as  it  lay  on  the  table. 

"  The  one  who  killed  the  duke ! "  Danvers 
cried,  in  amazement.  "  The  man  confessed  him 
self  a  suicide." 

"  Danvers,"  I  went  on,  "  I  am  afraid  that 
letter  was  not  written  by  the  duke,  not  all  writ 
ten  by  the  duke.  It  was  on  separate  sheets,  if 
you  remember,  the  first  one  naturally  without 
signature.  It  is  this  part  which  I  believe  to 
have  been  partly  written  by  another." 

If  ever  there  was  a  mystified  face  it  was 
Danvers's  as  he  stood  trying  to  make  something 
of  my  words. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  the  whole  story,"  I  went 
on,  "  a  bit  at  a  time,  and  when  I  bungle  it  in  the 
telling  stop  me  till  ye  get  it  clear,  for  the  future 
between  us  is  just  hanging  on  the  tale  I  tell. 
[374] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

"  The  night  of  the  murder  I  saw  ye,  Dan- 
vers,  going  back  to  Stair,  bareheaded,  in  the 
snow,  upon  what  errand  I  knew  not;  and  when 
Nancy  and  I  went  down  the  steps  of  the  little 
porch,  she  picked  up  something  and  hid  it  in 
the  lace  of  her  cloak;  but  in  her  room  that 
night,  when  she  fainted,  I  saw  it  was  your  cap, 
all  of  which  she  held  silence  concerning.  And 
the  next  morning  I  was  sent  off  to  Pitcairn  to 
worm  it  from  him  if  he  had  heard  you  threat 
ening  the  duke  the  day  before,  and  discovered 
that  not  only  did  he  hear  that,  but  knew  as  well, 
from  the  fool  chemist,  that  you  were  seen  run 
ning  away  from  Stair  on  the  very  heels  of  the 
murder,  and  if  a  blacker  case  was  ever  set  for 
a  woman  to  clear  away  I  have  yet  to  hear  of  it." 

"  I  came  up  from  Father  Michel's  through 
your  grounds,  hoping  to  catch  a  sight  of  her  by 
the  light  in  the  writing-room.  When  I  was  far 
toward  home  I  discovered  that  I  had  lost  the 
cap  she  gave  me,  and  turned  back  for  it,  but 
the  snow  was  so  deep  I  thought  it  useless," 
Danvers  explained. 

Upon  this  I  told  the  story,  a  piece  at  a  time, 
going  backward  and  forward  over  all  that  has 
been  set  down,  and  the  effect  of  it  upon  the  lad 
[375] 


XAXCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVH 

is  impossible  to  describe.  When  I  told  of 
Nancy's  finding  his  cap  he  put  his  hands  over 
his  eyes,  and  sat  with  his  face  covered  until  the 
clear  end  of  the  telling,  when  he  looked  up  at 
me  with  a  great  sadness,  which  had  joy  in  it 
as  well. 

'•  Where  is  she,  Lord  Stair;  may  I  see  her!  " 
he  asked. 

"Til  go  up  with  you  and  see,"  I  answered, 
as  I  held  him  by  the  arm  for  a  minute.  "  Will 
you  be  good  to  her?  "  I  asked. 

"Good  to  her!"  he  cried.  "If  she'll  have 
me! — if  the  rest  of  my  life's  service  can  atone 
in  any  way  for  all  the  misery  I've  caused  her — 
it's  hers  for  the  taking." 

"God  bless  you,"  I  said;  "God  bless  and 
keep  you  both." 

The  door  of  the  sitting-room  stood  a  bit 
open,  and  I  entered  to  find  Xancy  in  a  loose 
white  wrapper  in  a  great-chair  by  the  fire. 

"  I've  some  company  for  you.  Little  Flow 
er!"  I  began,  and  my  voice  choked  me  so  that 
she  looked  at  me  in  surprise. 

"Who  is  itT"  she  asked. 

"  It's  one  who  has  been  too  long  gone,"  I 
answered  her,  but  by  this  time  reason  and  con- 
[376] 


CHAP.  XXVH  NANCY    STAIR 

vention  were  blown  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven, 
for  at  sound  of  that  beloved  voice  the  door  was 
thrown  open  and  Danvers  was  on  his  knees  be 
fore  her,  his  face  buried  in  her  hands. 

"My  girl!"  he  cried,  "my  girl!  Can  ye 
forgive  me  for  all  the  misjudgments  I  made  of 
you?  Can  you  forget  all  the  sorrow  and  misery 
I  have  brought  into  your  life?  Can  you  just  let 
the  past  be  by  with  and  take  me  to  your  heart, 
for  'tis  the  only  place  I've  ever  known  happi 
ness  or  peace  in  all  my  life?  I'm  not  worthy 
of  you,"  he  went  on,  "  no  man  ever  born  was 
that;  but  say  you  care  enough — that  you  think 
you " 

And  here  the  woman  spoke : 

"  Good  or  bad — and  I  think  you  the  finest 
man  I  ever  knew — worthy  of  me  or  not,  I'd 
rather  be  your  wife  than  anything  this  world 
could  bring.  Oh,  ye've  been  so  long  away.  Dan 
vers,"  she  said,  with  a  sob,  "  so  long  away " 

"  God ! "  he  cried,  the  word  sounding  like  a 
prayer,  as  he  gathered  her  in  his  arms,  kissing 
her  lips,  her  eyes,  her  hair ;  and,  the  time  being 
made  for  them,  I  went  quietly  from  the  room. 

An  hour  passed,  two;  and  when  midnight 
was  tolled,  I  knew  that  Nancy's  health  must  be 
[377] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

thought  of,  and  crossed  the  hall  to  pack  Dan- 
vers  off  home.  I  found  him,  glorified,  at  one 
side  of  the  chimney-shelf,  and  Nancy,  like  a 
beautiful  crumpled  rose,  at  the  other;  Nancy, 
with  eyes  showing  the  memory  of  Danvers's 
kisses;  conscious  to  the  finger-tips,  all  woman, 
who  had  been  learning  for  the  past  two  hours 
from  her  lover's  passionate  caresses  the  Mean 
ing  of  Life. 

"  Be  off  home  with  you,  Danvers  Carmi- 
chael,"  I  cried.  "  Ye'll  have  this  child  of  mine 
ill  again ! " 

"I  am  not  going  home,"  he  said  deter 
minedly.  "  She  is  not  well,  and  she  needs  some 
one  to  sit  up  with  her." 

I  laughed  in  his  face.  "  With  Dickenson  in 
the  next  room,  Joan  Landy  sleeping  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  and  McMurtrie  and  myself  across 
the  hall,  she  scarce  suffers  from  lack  of  atten 
tion,"  I  answered,  and  here  he  took  another 
course. 

"  Oh,"  he  cried,  "  think  of  what  I  have  been 
through — think  of  all  the  bitter  days  and  nights 
of  separation  from  her!  Think  how  near  I 
came  to  losing  her  altogether.  Think  of  the 
hell  of  the  last  two  years,  and  let  me  stay,"  he 
[378] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

cried,  pleadingly ;  and  here  the  young  rascal  put 
his  hand  on  my  shoulder. 

"  Father,  "  he  cried. 

The  word  made  me  wax  in  his  hand,  and  I 
compromised.  "  Ye  can  have  the  rooms  next  to 
mine  and  stay  with  us  to-night,"  I  gave  in. 

"  I  shall  stay  till  the  wedding.  I'm  going  to 
live  here,"  he  returned  with  a  laugh,  at  which 
I  carried  him  off  to  my  own  rooms,  though  he 
went  back  twice  to  Nancy's  door  to  say  some 
thing  he'd  forgotten. 

I  knew  that  "  forgotten  thing."  I  had  gone 
back  often  to  say  it  myself.  What  lover  has 
not?  But  at  the  third  announcement  of  his  for- 
gettings  I  lost  patience  with  him. 

"  Danvers  Carmichael !  Many's  the  time  in 
our  college  days  that  I  have  thrown  your  father 
down  and  sat  on  him  to  keep  him  from  some 
piece  of  deviltry,  and  despite  my  years,  I  fear 
I'll  have  to  treat  ye  the  same  way,"  I  cried, 
upon  which  we  ordered  the  pipes  and  some 
brandy,  and  sat  till  the  clear  day  was  come, 
talking  the  past  over,  going  back  and  forth 
over  our  many  mistakes,  and  making  happy 
plans  for  the  future,  with  Nancy  the  centre  of 
every  plan. 

[379] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

A  month  later  the  marriage  took  place  in 
the  little  chapel  on  the  Burnside,  on  a  morning 
so  fair  and  bright  and  joyous  that  it  seemed 
made  for  such  a  happening.  All  the  old  friends 
were  there — Janet  and  Hugh,  Dame  Dicken- 
son  and  Uncle  Ben,  the  girls  from  the  lace- 
school,  Jeanie  Henderlin  with  the  Lapraiks, 
and  Huey  MacGrath,  who  cried  without  inter 
mission  from  the  time  he  arose  in  the  morning 
until  late  in  the  day,  when,  overcome  by  the 
punch,  he  was  found  asleep  with  his  head  on  the 
Hall  Bible. 

Jamie  played  the  violin,  and  as  Nancy  and 
I  entered  the  church,  Danvers  and  Billy  Deuce- 
ace  were  waiting  for  us  at  the  railing.  It  was 
such  a  misty,  glorified,  radiant  Nancy  I  had 
upon  my  arm,  that  Danvers  waited  no  longer 
after  the  first  look,  his  impatience  being  such 
that  he  left  Billy  Deuceace,  and,  coming  down 
the  aisle,  took  her  from  me  before  we  were  half 
way  to  the  altar.  Somewhat  set  back  by  the 
suddenness  of  this,  I  turned  to  Sandy,  who  was 
near — Sandy,  with  a  face  as  glad,  as  overjoyed 
as  my  own — who,  seeing  the  position  I  was  left 
in,  joined  me,  and  we  walked  together  to  the 
altar-rail  and  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  as  our 
[  380  ] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY   STAIR 

two  children  were  united  until  God  do  them 
part. 

Looking  down  the  years  to  come  we  saw 
other  Sandy  Carmichaels  and  other  Jock  Stairs 
together  in  the  bare  old  playground  we  had 
known;  saw  splendid  men  and  women,  born  of 
our  son  and  daughter,  making  the  world  better 
and  stronger  for  our  having  lived,  and  the  joy 
within  me  was  so  strong  that  the  tears  stood  in 
my  eyes  and  trembled  down  my  face.  Turning 
suddenly,  I  found  Sandy  as  moist-eyed  as  my 
self,  and  while  the  service  was  being  read  I 
reached  toward  him,  and  we  stood,  hands 
gripped,  until  the  end,  in  memory  of  our  dead 
youth  and  of  our  friendship  that  could  never 
die. 

And  like  an  old  man  who  tells  a  tale  limp- 
ingly,  and  covers  the  ground  again  to  make  its 
points  clear  to  the  listener,  I  set  down  a  scene 
some  five  years  later  in  the  grounds  of  Stair. 
We  were  all  there,  Nancy  and  Danvers,  Sandy, 
Pitcairn,  and  myself — and  two  Newcomers,  the 
most  spoiled  and  petted  children,  it  is  my  be 
lief,  upon  the  entire  earth. 

"  I  had  a  letter  from  Pailey  to-day,  Nancy," 
[381] 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXYII 

said  I,  "  proposing  a  third  edition  of  your 
poems."  * 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  That's  by  with  forever,  Jock ;  I  shall  never 
write  again,"  she  answered. 

"  No  more  verse-making? "  I  inquired. 

"  Never  any  more — unless  it  be  to  say  to 
women  this." 

She  stood,  with  her  hands  folded  before  her, 
a  beautiful  fulfilled  Nancy,  looking  down  at  us 
with  sweetest  earnestness,  her  children  leaning 
against  her  as  she  spoke. 

"  I  should  write :  I,  Nancy  Stair-Carmichael, 
have  learned  that  verse-making  and  verse-sing 
ing  and  the  publicity  that  goes  with  them  do  not 
make  me  a  finer  woman;  I  have  learned  that 
my  woman's  body  is  not  strong  enough  for  the 
mental  excitement  of  that  existence,  and  to  be 
a  daughter,  a  wife  and  a  mother,  as  well,  and 
that  God  in  his  goodness  sent  a  certain  great 


*  The  last  published  poems  written  by  Nancy  Stair  Carmichael 
(afterward  Countess  of  Glenmore)  were: 

"And  will  ye  go  Love's  Way  with  me  " — written  directly  after 
the  visit  to  Allan-Lough — and 

"Here  awa!  There  awa!  Daffy-Down-Dilly  O!"  one  of  the 
quaintest  bits  of  loving  child  rhyme  in  all  the  Scots  tongue, 
composed  soon  after  the  birth  of  her  first  child,  Danvers  Car* 
miciiael,  Jr. 

[382] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

poet  into  my  life  to  show  me  that  gift  is  nothing 
beside  womanhood. 

"  And  I  would  reason  with  all  these  dear 
other  women  like  this : 

"  Suppose  I  write  certain  verses !  Where 
will  my  lines  be  two  hundred  years  from  now? 
Forgotten  words  of  unimmediate  things.  But 
suppose  my  heart  spoke  to  me,  and  knowing  I 
could  do  but  one  work  well,  I  put  all  childish 
ambition  aside  to  become  the  mother  of  men, 
that  centuries  from  now  thousands  of  my  chil 
dren  may  be  fighting  for  the  right  of  present 
issues  and  hastening  that  Divine  Outcome  for 
which  God  made  us  all. 

"And  I  would  say  to  them:  the  night  I 
knew  another  woman  was  to  be  the  mother — " 
she  paused  abruptly,  for  she  had  been  so  car 
ried  away  by  her  own  thought  as  to  forget 
where  this  might  lead.  She  was  a  great  woman, 
but  to  the  end  of  her  life  could  never  bring  her 
self  to  name  the  fact  that  Danvers  had  had  an 
other  wife. 

"  That  night,"  she  continued,  slurring  the 
statement  over,  "  I  learned  more  about  life  than 
the  classics  ever  taught  me. 

"  And  I  would  write,   as  well,   something 


NANCY    STAIR  CHAP.  XXVII 

about  the  trial,  to  say  to  them  that  when  Dan- 
vers's  life  was  at  stake  I  had  no  thought  but  to 
save  him.  Right  or  wrong,  innocent  or  guilty, 
the  only  thing  I  wanted  was  that  he  might  be 
free. 

"  And  by  this  thing  I  found  the  unfitness  of 
women  to  handle  public  affairs,  for  the  tender 
hearts,  which  make  good  wives  and  mothers  and 
daughters,  unfit  us  for  the  judicial  conduct  need 
ed  in  public  matters — and  I'm  glad  they  do,"  she 
finished,  with  a  smile. 

"It's  not,"  Danvers  amended,  as  he  stood 
with  his  arm  about  her,  "  that  women  have  not 
the  ability  to  do  anything  they  want,"  for  he 
was  ever  chivalrous,  "  but  that  God  in  his  wis 
dom  gave  them  a  great  and  special  work,  and 
they  should  be  kept  strong  and  safe  and  holy 
for  its  fulfilment." 

"  But  it  is  not  given  to  all  women  to  choose 
what  they  shall  do,"  said  Sandy. 

"  And  few  of  them  are  gifted  creatures,  any 
how,"  said  Hugh. 

"  And  one  life  can  never  be  as  another," 
said  I;  but  the  older  baby,  who  looked  up  just 
then,  said,  "Mother." 

[384] 


CHAP.  XXVII  NANCY    STAIR 

"  And  that  one  word  tells  the  whole  story," 
cried  Nancy,  with  a  passion  of  tenderness  in 
her  voice,  laying  the  child's  head  against  her 
bosom. 


THE  END 


[385] 


Daring  in  conception  and  fulfilment," 

— Boston  Herald. 

Mills  of  God. 

By  ELINOR  MACARTNEY  LANE.  Illustrated.  i2mo. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  It  is  a  good  novel  in  comparison  to  even  the  best  in  current  Amer 
ican  fiction." — The  New  York  Herald. 

"The  reader  will  not  willingly  lay  aside  the  book  till  the  end  is 
reached.  The  story  is  exceedingly  well  written  and  thoroughly  well 
told."—  The  Washington  Post 

"  The  story  shows  maturity,  resource,  and  distinction.  It  combines 
the  dash  and  valor  of  the  favorite  school  of  fiction  with  the  poise,  acute- 
ness,  and  refinement  of  the  reflective  type.  It  is  compact  of  fresh, 
generous  character  creation,  appealing  and  exquisite." — Boston  Times. 

"Her  theme  is  daring  and  delicate.  Notwithstanding,  the  final 
product  more  than  justifies  the  choice,  the  story  is  strong  and  fearlessly 
told,  the  novel  exceptional  in  finish  and  the  careful  balance  of  its  parts." 

—  The  Washington  Star. 

"  '  Mills  of  God '  is  said  to  be  a  woman's  first  novel,  and  if  this  be 
true  the  writer,  Elinor  Macartney  Lane,  has  much  to  be  proud  of.  She 
has  studied  her  art  and  has  a  serious  view  of  it.  It  is  a  well-written, 
interesting,  and  readable  novel."  — New  York  Times  Saturday  Review. 

"She  certainly  will  be  heard  from  again  and  more  insistently.  Not 
only  for  the  pleasure  it  gives,  but  still  more  for  the  intellectual  delight 
of  watching  from  the  first  the  development  of  a  new  writer,  '  Mills  of 
God*  deserves  wide  attention.  Its  writer  is  a  coming  author." 

— New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  A  romance  of  extraordinary  charm  and  carries  its  absorbing  story 
along  with  triumphant  decision.  The  ideals  of  the  book  are  high,  and 
the  romance  is  too  gallant  to  leave  the  mind  of  the  reader  in  a  depressed 
condition." — Chicago  Tribune. 

"  A  brilliant  romance  of  Virginia  ;  a  deftly  woven  tale,  with  passion's 
power  for  good  and  evil  as  its  theme.  Mrs.  Lane  has  a  vivacious,  spir 
ited,  graphic  way  of  telling  a  story  and  portraying  character.  Her 
dialogue  has  an  air  of  life,  and  is  even-pointed  and  piquant.  She  has 
pictured  with  power,  yet  with  delicacy  and  reserve,  the  dawn  of  a  great 
passion,  the  futile  struggle  against  it,  and  the  surrender." 

— Chicago  Record-Herald, 

UA  mighty  good  romance.  The  characters  are  complex  human 
beings,  instead  of  lay-figures  for  the  display  of  ready-made  chivalry, 
and  one  remembers  both  them  and  their  history  after  laying  down  the 
book." — Life. 

D.    APPLETON     AND    COMPANY,     NEW    YORK. 


WIT,  SPARKLING,  SCINTILLATING  WIT, 
IS  THE  ESSENCE  OF 

Kate  of  Kate  Hall, 

By  ELLEN  THORNEYCROFT  FOWLER, 

whose  reputation  was  made  by  her  first  book, 
"  Concerning  Isabel  Carnaby,"  and  enhanced  by  her 
last  success,  "  Place  and  Power." 

"In  'Kate  of  Kate  Hall,'  by  Ellen  Thorneycroft  Fowler,  the  ques 
tion  of  imminent  concern  is  the  marriage  of  super-dainty,  peppery- 
tempered  Lady  Katherine  Clare,  whose  wealthy  godmother,  erstwhile 
deceased,  has  left  her  a  vast  fortune,  on  condition  that  she  shall  be 
wedded  within  six  calendar  months  from  date  of  the  testator's  death. 

"An  easy  matter,  it  would  seem,  for  bonny  Kate,  notwithstanding 
her  aptness  at  sharp  repartee,  is  a  morsel  fit  for  the  gods. 

"  The  accepted  suitor  appears  in  due  time  ;  but  comes  to  grief  at  the 
last  moment  in  a  quarrel  with  Lady  Kate  over  a  kiss  bestowed  by  her 
upon  her  godmother's  fonner  man  of  affairs  and  secretary.  This  inci 
dent  she  haughtily  refuses  to  explain.  Moreover,  she  shatters  the  bond 
of  engagement,  although  but  three  weeks  remain  of  the  fatal  six  months. 
She  would  rather  break  stones  on  the  road  all  day  and  sleep  in  a 
pauper's  grave  all  night,  than  marry  a  man  who,  while  professing  to  love 
her,  would  listen  to  mean  and  malicious  gossips  picked  up  by  tell-tales 
in  the  servants'  hall. 

"  So  the  great  estate  is  likely  to  be  lost  to  Kate  and  her  debt-ridden 
father,  Lord  Claverley.  How  it  is  conserved  at  last,  and  gloomy  appre 
hension  chased  away  by  dazzling  visions  of  material  splendor — that  is 
the  author's  well-kept  secret,  not  to  be  shared  here  with  a  careless  and 
indolent  public." — Philadelphia  North  American. 

"  The  long-standing  reproach  that  women  are  seldom  jhumorists 
seems  in  a  fair  way  of  passing  out  of  existence.  Several  contemporary 
feminine  writers  have  at  least  sufficient  sense  of  humor  to  produce  char 
acters  as  deliciously  humorous  as  delightful.  Of  such  order  is  the 
Countess  Claverley,  made  whimsically  real  and  lovable  in  the  recent 
book  by  Ellen  Thorneycroft  Fowler  and  A.  L.  Felkin,  *  Kate  of  Kate 
Hall.'  " — Chicago  Record-Herald. 

"  '  Kate  of  Kate  Hall '  is  a  novel  in  which  Ellen  Thorneycroft  Fowler 
displays  her  brilliant  abilities  at  their  best.  The  story  is  well  constructed, 
the  plot  develops  beautifully,  the  incidents  are  varied  and  brisk,  and  the 
dialogue  is  deliciously  clever." — Rochester  Democrat  and  Chronicle. 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY,     NEW    YORK. 


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